


Creators of a Multiverse

by theAlmostPorcupine



Series: The BATIM Multiverse [4]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Body Horror, Dad!Henry, Demons, Good!Joey, Magic, Son!Bendy, cartoons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2020-05-12 09:14:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 52,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19226128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theAlmostPorcupine/pseuds/theAlmostPorcupine
Summary: When Joey Drew hires Henry Stein, things start to go wrong: backgrounds move, people hear voices, and earthquakes hit single buildings. Joey Drew Studios has got to find and neutralize the problem before it's too late, and protect an ever-growing number of alternate cartoon worlds and living cartoon creations. Can Joey give up magic for good? Can Henry handle his new role as a father?





	1. BONUS CHAPTER/APPENDIX A

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not part of the story itself. It's a cheat sheet for the demons in this fic, for anyone interested in such things. It will be updated as more information is revealed through the story.
> 
> IMPORTANT: The story begins at Chapter 3.

Known Demons

1 _Aeli/Allison Ross_ – one of Henry’s twin sisters. A half-demon who was exorcised.

2 _Caesar Ross –_ Henry’s father.

3 _Henry Stein II/Xnmr (pen name Henry Ross) – a_ half demon who doesn’t know how to control his magic.

4 _Susskik/Susie Ross – t_ he other of Henry’s exorcised twin sisters.

5 _Wulisae_ – a demon that’s been causing trouble for both Henry and Caesar. Caesar complains about her grammar and her attention-drawing antics.

6 _(Name unknown)_ – the demon Henry summoned as part of his deal with Wulisae.

Known Summoners

1 _Henry Stein II/Xnmr (pen name Henry Ross)_ – see the entry above.

2 Joey _Drew Jr/_ _Rootsword_ – Henry’s uncle and current head of Joey Drew Studios. Protector of the Ink Machine. Dubbed _Lnmya_ by Caesar.

3 _Joey Drew Sr/_ _the Storyteller_ _–_ Joey’s father, who is now living as a Toon inside the Ink Machine.

4 _Larry Ruth –_ the former CEO of Animation Tent. (Deceased.)

Others 

1 _Alice Angel_ – the star cartoon character of Joey Drew Studios.

2 _Boris the Wolf_ – a cartoon character of Joey Drew Studios.

3 _Daniel “Buddy” Lewek_ – the Art Department’s gofer at Joey Drew Studios.

4 _Dave_ – a Joey Drew Studios employee.

5 _Dewey_ – Emilio Capitani’s butler.

6 _Dorothy “Dot”_ – a friend of Buddy’s.

7 _Edgar_ – the cartoon spider that Henry drew.

8 _Emilio Capitani/_ _Ememmyo_ – a mafia boss that Caesar is on good terms with. The man who married the love of Joey’s life and is raising Joey’s son with her. He knows the kid isn’t is, but he spoils him anyway.

9 _Gutsy the Skeleton_ – a cartoon character of Joey Drew Studios.98 _Henry Stein I_ – Henry’s grandfather. The creator of most of the Joey Drew Studios characters. (Deceased.) Living inside the Ink Machine as Scratch.

10 _Linda Stein_ – the first Henry’s wife. (Deceased.) Living inside the Ink Machine.

11 _Luke Stein_ – the first Henry’s son. (Deceased.) Living inside the Ink Machine as Boris.

12 _Luther Capitani_ – a three-year-old boy who is supposedly Emilio Capitani’s son. He’s actually Joey Drew Jr’s son.

13 _Norman Polk_ – a Joey Drew Studios employee.

14 _Ritchie_ – a Joey Drew Studios employee.

15 _Sammy Lawrence_ – the head of the Music Department at Joey Drew Studios. He plays the banjo.

16 _Scratch –_ Joey Drew Studio’s most popular cartoon villain. A fictional version of a demon.

17 _Thomas Connor_ – a repairman at Joey Drew Studios.

18/19 _Mr and Mrs Underwood_ – friends of Henry’s mother who let Henry stay with them when he first moved back to town.

20 _Erica_ _(Drago)_ _Capitani_ – Emilio’s wife, Luther’s mother, and Joey’s ex-fiancee.

21 _Daisy Stein_ – the first Henry’s daughter, the first Joey’s foster daughter, the second Joey’s sister, and the second Henry’s mother. Caesar’s ex-wife. (Deceased.)

22 _Wally Franks_ – a Joey Drew Studios employee.

23 _Woolly the Sheep_ – a cartoon character of Joey Drew Studios.

Unclassified

1 _Bendy_ – a cartoon demon who came to life on a piece of paper. He’s good in the cartoons and in real life. He’s made a couple deals with Henry that have to do with being so. According to Caesar, he’s actually a golem. Because of this, Henry is concerned that Bendy might need to be his confidante to survive.

2 _Henry Stein I/Scratch_ _–_ a cursed soul stuck in the body of a cartoon demon. He complains of predatory instincts and trouble remembering who he really is.

3 _Ibta_ – a shadow being that spews spiders. Caesar complains about someone else beating him to eating Ibta’s soul.

4 _Spiders_ – specifically, the type that Wulisae sends after Henry. According to Caesar, spiders are weak cowards that can nevertheless make useful pets.

Magical Entities 

1 _Angels_ – one source of magic. They have something to do with exorcism.

2 _Demons_ – powerful beings that prey on humans. The other source of magic.

3 _Golems_ – according to Caesar, a golem is shaped matter animated through magic. They have the illusion of being as alive as their creator wants them to be, but they have no real intelligence and will respond to any valid name of theirs. He considers them property.

Books on Magic and Demons

_1 55 Human-Demon-Safe Recipes for Your Awakening Powers_ – the modified title of a demonic cookbook that Caesar translated for Henry.

 _2_ _The Illusion of Humanity_ – a storybook filled with unusual arrangements that demons have made with humans.

Demonic Power

Demonic power is lesser than heavenly power. It tends to run on language and can be blocked. It allows things like fire, seeing the dead, talking spiders, physical transformations, super strength, heightened senses, a healing factor, and telekinesis. Demons can be controlled through their true names, and they can also be weakened by being denied access to demon-friendly foods.

Humans can access demon magic through words or deals. The details of how it works are unclear.

Known Active Magical Bounds (by entity)

In general, demons are more bound to these than humans are. The bounds are not absolute, but they do impose consequences for going against them (such as illness). Bounds are stronger when blood and tears are used, and at their strongest when a true name is used.

_Bendy_

1 Bendy will prove everyone wrong when they assume he’s evil in exchange for Henry’s protection.

2 Bendy will stay hidden at Joey Drew Studios in exchange for Henry taking him home and talking to him after work.

3 Bendy will understand Henry's concerns with Bendy's safety in exchange for things to entertain him.

4 Bendy must report on Henry to Caesar every time he sees him.

5 Bendy must conceal the conversation he had with Caesar about spying on Henry from Henry.

_Caesar_

1 Caesar cannot kill Joey.

2 Caesar won’t transform Joey again.

_Henry_

1 (Accident). Henry must avenge Larry Ruth.

2 (Accident). Henry cannot question the methods Joey uses to try to help him keep “his demon” under control as long as Joey doesn’t send him to an exorcist without more information than he had at the time they made this deal.

3 Henry will protect Bendy in exchange for Bendy proving everyone wrong when they assume he’s evil.

4 Henry will take Bendy home and talk to him after work in exchange for Bendy staying hidden at the studio.

5 Henry will give Bendy things to entertain him in exchange for Bendy understanding what he’s worried about.

6 Henry must use his magic.

7 Henry can’t tell anyone about Caesar or Emilio or anything they do.

8 Henry must keep Joey from interfering with Caesar’s goals.

9 Henry can’t inform Joey that he’s half demon. (Since Joey knows Henry is half demon, this is currently moot.)

10 If Henry is possessed, he must stick around and let his family get him exorcised.

11 Henry must spend the week with Joey, refraining from doing magic on purpose at the studio and reporting any magical accidents to Joey. However, he is not to count using magic to change his appearance back to human against this.

_Joey_

1 Joey must help Henry practice his magic and spend the week looking for a source to help demons with magic that isn't Caesar Ross.

_Wulisae_

1 Because Henry summoned a demon for her, she must give Ibta to Henry's demon to use as a vessel in his place. She must also protect Henry from the demon he summoned.

_General bounds_

1 Joey has a ward on his apartment door that claims it as his property against demons.

2 Joey has a ward on his apartment door that tells demons not to look for him or the Ink Machine.

3 There seems to be something preventing demons from eating the souls of possessed humans all in one go.

4 Living souls can't wake outside their bodies, but they can dream.

5 There's something that prevented Henry from changing a wood chip into sulfur with his words, but Bendy was able to do it with alchemy.


	2. BONUS MATERIAL/APPENDIX B

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like the previous chapter, this is supplemental material for those who are interested. This one is a language study rather than an encyclopedia entry.

**Pronunciation Guide**

A – _ah_ , as in dog, clipped short.

Aa – _ah_ , as in dog, held long.

Ae – _a_ , as in at, romanized this way from both the clipped and held versions.

E – _ay_ , as in game, clipped short.

Ee – _ay_ , as in game, held long.

I – _ee_ , as in sheep, clipped short.

Ii – _ee_ , as in sheep, held long.

O – oh, as in rode, clipped short.

Oo – oh, as in rode, held long.

U – oo, as in boo, clipped short.

Uu – oo, as in boo, held long.

B – b, as in boy.

D – _d_ , as in dog.

G – _g_ as in girl.

K – _k_ as in bea k , but not k itten or bu ck et . (That is, no puff of air after the _k_.)

K’ - _k_ as in k itten, but not bea k or bu ck et. (That is, with a puff of air after the _k_.)

L – _l_ as in peop le. This may be the main sound of a syllable in place of a vowel.

M – m, as in mill. This may be the main sound of a syllable in place of a vowel.

N – _n_ , as in note. This may be the main sound of a syllable in place of a vowel.

Nn – as in pen knife.

R – _r_ as in write. This may be the main sound of a syllable instead of a vowel. It may not follow a vowel unless it is either in a separate syllable as the vowel or, in fast speech, replaces the vowel altogether.

S – _s_ as in sit, clipped short.

Sk – _sh_ as in shirt, always.

Skr – _shr_ as in shreik or sure.

Ss – s as in sit, as a lengthened hiss.

Ssk – another _sh_ , as in shirt. Does not occur in root forms.

Sy – also as in shirt, always. Does not occur in root forms.

T – _t_ as in nu t , but not as in t on or bu tt er. (Rare. Like above, with no puff of air after the _t_.)

Ts – _zz_ as in pi zza.

T’ - _t_ as in t on, but not as in nu t or bu tt er. (With a puff or air after the _t_.)

Note: this consonant occurs as a supposed lone sound in one word: _t’_ , meaning _to bite_ , in reality, the word is pronounced like a lazy pronunciation of _to_.

T’y – _ch_ as in chain, always.

T’s – also as in ch ain, except between two vowels where it’s _ts_ as in lo ts.

For instance, _ t’s _ _uaet’_ (fang) is pronounced with a _ch_ sound, but _gu_ _ t’s _ _uaet’_ (this fang) is pronounced with a _t_ and an _s_.

W – w as in win.

X – _ch_ , as in lo ch.

Xs – _x_ , as in bo x.

Xss – also as in box.

Y – _y_ , as in year.

Z – z, as in zoo.

Zh – as in treasure.

Zy – also as in treas ure, except in the most careful of pronunciation between vowels where it’s a _z_ and a _y._

For example, _ zy _ _uzh_ (portal) is pronounced with the sound in _treasure_ , but the compound word _mya_ _ zy _ _uzh_ ( to be summoned by a human ) is pronounced with the syllables _myaz_ and _yuzh_ . (Or more typically with the _treasure s_ anyway.)

**Consonant Change Chains**

“Hardening:”

x or g → k → k’

z→ s → ts → t’s

(no consonant) → y if the consonant starts with an _a, aa, ae, e,_ or _ee;_ and y → zh

(no consonant) → w if the consonant starts with an _u, uu, o,_ or _oo_.

M → sm

sw → sk

d → t → t’

*If a sound isn’t listed here, it doesn’t harden.

“Softening:”

k’ → k → g (even if the sound started as a _x_ )

ts → s → z

y or w → (no consonant)

zh → y

sk → sw

t’ → t → d

*If a sound isn’t listed here, it doesn’t soften.

 **Demontongue** **Word List**

Aeli – a demon name meaning “bad at magic.” Refers to the demonic entity of Henry’s sister, Allison.

To Agree – _Muwu._

Alone/only _– zya._

Animation Tent – ???

Baby – _Sus._

Blood (of a demon’s prey) – _Sunu._

Body/Vessel – _Emx._ This has an irregular form with its _-ss_ noun suffix: _emsk_ , same as it’s _-ts_ form.

To Breathe/ To Spread Rumors  – _Xn_.

Child/Offspring  – _Xiizii._

Death (as a sentence to a “morally wrong” inferior or an enemy) – _Nnuu_.

Demon – _Guts._

Ememmyo – a demon name that refers to someone whose social skills are lacking when it comes to getting a significant other.

An Exorcist/A Priest (always considered an enemy and/or food) – _Wiyuu_.

A Fight/To Fight – _Swii_.

Food (in general) – _Uu_.

To Forget – There is no Demontongue word for this. They express the concept as “to stop remembering.”

To Get a Significant Other \- _Emem._

Goat/Human (as something a demon wants to eat) – _Muunu_.

To Have the Full Story  – _Snd_.

Home/Property/Domain  – _Nde._

Incompetent/ Having no potential for  – _Ae._

Ink Machine  – _Yasunskiku_ . May also be referred to as _t’siyaa_.

Joey Drew  – Usually _uujowi_ or _uudru_.

To Kill  – Swuu.

Larry Ruth  – Probably _uulari_ or _uur_ _u_ _s_.

Like-minded/Sympathetic (to a cause) – _Oorn._

Magic  – _Li._

To Meet Up/To Encounter (Someone )  (never for the first time) – _Rems._

Milk (especially goat’s milk)  – _Zuk._

To Mock/To be M ockable or U nsatisfactory  – Skik.

Mr  – a demonic delicacy made from a fresh goat tongue and topped with a wet, slimy, black mold.

A Name (in general, even the flattering ones you give yourself) – _Susski_.

To Name  (anyone but yourself, especially insultingly) – Susskik.

Near/Nearby –  _Arn._

No  – (No translation. See “to refuse” or give them a reason to bug off, such as claiming something as your own.)

Only/alone  – _Zya._

P ain  – _Ae._

To Plan ( A head)/To Make a Plan  – _Wulis._

T o Refuse  – _Kr._

To Remember – _Lisnet’._ This is also used in the sense of “to do something related to how [something] was.”

Revenge  – _Nnuuaet’_.

To Search \- _Wum._ Negative command form: _skrum._

To Smell (Something)/To Sniff  – _Muk._

Socially Inept  – _Myo_.

Soul (as something a demon wants to eat or enslave) – _Yaa._

To Stop/To Be Hurt – _Sae._ Two possible command forms: the regular _tsae_ and the irregular _ssae_ – the form used comes down to the user’s preference between the two.

S ummoner  – _Mya_.

Summoning  – _Myazyuzh._

Susskik  – see “to name.” Also a demon name meaning “an infant that deserves to be mocked.” Refers to the demonic entity of Henry’s sister, Susie Stein.

Time (not in a unit, but as in the phrases “time to X” or “time for Y”) - _Zhuu_. *This is usually encountered in a compound. Both _zhuu_ and the word before it will be fully conjugated before they’re joined.

T’it’lxm – a demonic unit of time in which a demon would prefer to have two meals and a good sleep. About twentytwo hours. Also used in other expressions to invoke the sense of time in general. On its own, this is especially true for equivalents of _there was/_ _were/_ _will be_ but not _there is/are_.

T’it’lxm swii  – a demonic unit of time in which an average demon would expect to have a fight with another demon. About five and a half days.

To Win/to Gain (especially through deception) – _yawuu._ This word is a bit unusual when you’re making it a question – its base becomes the verb _oyu_ instead.

Wulisae  _–_ a demon name meaning “bad at planning.”

Xe  – makes a clause more intense. Goes at the end of the clause.

Xnmr – a demon name meaning “goat breath.” A backhanded compliment given to favorite offspring, usually firstborns because it also implies that they get to eat delicacies like mr (in contrast to say, _xnmuunu_ _)_. More rarely, the name means “rumors of mr.” Refers to the demonic entity of Henry.

Y e  \- “I know (that)”

**Basic Demontongue Grammar**

Derivation Order

Basic prefixes and suffixes attach to words in the following orders (see the prefix or suffix itself for its number slot):

Nouns:

6 – 3 – 2 – Root – 1 – 4 – 5

*Note: There is also a slot “7” that’s really a softening of whatever’s at the front of the noun, if the sound can be softened.

Verbs:

Tier 1 (most verbs)

2 – 1 – Root – 4 – 5 – 6

*Note: Slot “3” is really a hardening of whatever’s at the front of the verb, if the sound can be hardened.

Tier 2 (tend to be verbs that have something to say about another verb)

1 – Root

You may skip empty slots, and add, for example, a noun-slot-3 prefix onto the root itself if there is no slot-2 prefix. What you can’t do is put a noun-slot-2 prefix before a noun-slot-6 prefix or a noun-slot-1 suffix after a noun-slot-5 suffix: nouns and verbs build from the root outward.

*Note: the younger generation often pretends Tier 2 verbs don’t exist by treating them like new Tier 1 verb roots.

Adjectives

1 – Root.

Adjectives don’t take on as many forms as the other parts of speech in Demontongue.

Negation

For nouns, add _kr-_ to slot 2. _Nde ((That’s) a home/domain.) → Krnde ((That’s) not a home/domain.)_

For Tier 1 verbs, add _r-_ to slot 1 and move it inside the root’s first syllable if there’s an unless there’s a _t_ or _t’_ by itself or a _y, w,_ or _r_ anywhere at the front of that syllable. _Xi (to breath) → xri (to not breathe)_ , but _kr (to refuse) → rkr (to not refuse_ _OR to stop refusing_ _)._ For adjectives, add _y-_ to slot 1. _Ln (stupid) → yln (not stupid)._

For Tier 2 verbs, add _k-_ to spot one if a demon can pronounce the word without a vowel between the _k_ and the root or _ki-_ to spot one if it can’t.

*The younger generations sometimes negate their verbs a little differently….

For Tier 1 verbs, if the first affix on a word is the _r_ and it doesn’t move inside the word, the younger generations treat it like a separate word. Traditionally, _kr_ → _rkr_ and _xi_ → _xri;_ but in the newer way of doing things, _kr → r kr,_ but _xi → xri_.

For Tier 2 verbs, they pretend the verb is a Tier 1 verb root. For example, Tier 1 verb xi (breathe) is _xri_ when it’s _not breathe_. Either form becomes a Tier 2 verb root with _-gl_. _Xri_ (not breathe) → _xrigl_ (make [someone] not breathe). Traditionally, _xrigl_ (make [someone] not breathe) → _kixrigl_ (not make someone not breathe); but in the newer way of doing things, _xrigl → r xrigl_.

Origin

For any verb, add a suffix onto the noun you got it from in slot 5. Most of the time, it will be _-skaet’_ , indicating that you’re getting something from an enemy or someone you look down upon.

R elative clauses 

Demontongue doesn’t have relative clauses per se. Here are some equivalent structures:

1 Describe what would be in the relative clause in a separate sentence, and then put _ga-_ or _t’si-_ ( _this_ or _that_ ) on the noun that was described when you use it in the next sentence.

Ex: _Xn mya._ _T’si_ _my_ _a_ _!_ (There’s a summoner that’s spreading rumors around, and that’s the summoner.)

2 If the verb that would have been in a relative clause isn’t an action verb, just throw any nouns from the relative clause into the sentence and put matching sentence role endings on both nouns. For example, all of the following mean _a baby named Susskik:_ _Sus susskik. Susski susskikski. Susskikli susli._

Sentences

One language task per sentence. Don’t worry about including a subject, a verb, or anything. A sentence is nothing more than a complete thought in Demontongue.

Sentence Roles

Although it’s not necessary to include anything like a subject or an object in Demontongue, it’s sometimes desired. Typically, speakers do not mark what a noun’s role in a sentence is if it’s clear from context or if it’s not important to distinguish between the most likely meanings.

However, there are times when it pays to be absolutely clear about sentence roles. When this is necessary, add the appropriate suffix to noun slot 8.

Here some examples of sentence roles:

A goal (of the person doing the verb): -ski. This occurs with verbs that, in English, take _for_ as part of the verb phrase, like the verb _to look for_.

An object of the verb: -net’.

There may be more than one noun with the same role in the sentence. This is fine. Whatever has the most weight in the sentence will go first, and everything else will be of lesser importance.

Typically, you will see one of the following patterns:

The most common pattern is having the noun with the most weight start the sentence and having the verb come between anything like a subject and anything like an object.

The second most common pattern is to emphasize the verb by starting with it, then going through the nouns.

The third most common pattern is starting with the noun of the most weight, going through every other noun in the sentence, and then ending with (or omitting) the verb. This emphasizes the relationship between the nouns rather than the actual verb. This pattern is more likely to happen when the verb isn’t much of an action verb, like the verb _wuu_ , meaning _to look like._

However, with any of these patterns, it is possible to move one noun to the other side of the verb to give it more weight. These constructions have a feeling like two English clauses joined with _and_.

Word order

There is no fixed word order in Demontongue. Generally, demons will start with what’s in their own interest if they think they can beat you in a fight or with what’s in your interests if they feel the need to avoid a fight.

In human-demon interactions, this means the demon will start with what they want and end with what’s in it for the human – if they name anything at all. It also means that, without the magically-potent laws of claim or refusal on our side, our chances of surviving a demon encounter is to start our sentences with what we’re giving the demon instead of what we want.

**Language Tasks**

A sking questions: 

There is a prefix for noun slot 6 that means you’re asking about the noun. It’s _u-_ , and the exact meaning depends on context.

However, because demons like to mislead others, you’re better off simply demanding the full story of anything you’re asking about. Use the verb _snd_ , which means “to have the full story,” make it something you hear by adding _-u_ to tier 1’s verb slot 5 and then staking a claim on it strong enough to mean “give me.” _Snduts._ Your answer is even more likely to be true if you can use the demon’s true name when demanding the information or if the information is guaranteed as part of a deal.

A sserting knowledge: 

There’s a funny sort of suffix that attaches to the last word of whatever sentence you’re making if you’re saying that “you know” something in Demontongue: _ye_.

When used with a question tone, it also means something like _right?_ or _doesn’t it?_

Claim ing, Surrendering, and Offering Things : 

You can claim something for yourself or for a group to which you belong.

Start with a noun. For instance, _sunu_.

To claim it as being already your own, add a _-ss_ in slot 1. _Sunu_ _“blood”_ → _Sunuss “That’s my blood.”_ _(_ _This is a noun that’s_ _literally ‘the blood that is mine.’)_

To claim it for a group, add an _-n_ in slot 1. _Sunu_ _“blood” → Sunun “That’s our blood.” (_ _This is a noun that’s_ _literally ‘the blood that is ours.’)_

To claim something you don’t currently own (for instance, to warn a demon off of claiming a stranger’s blood), add a _-ts_ in slot 1 . _Sunu “blood” → Sunuts “That’s my blood now.” (This_ _suffix forms a new verb root._ _)_

*Note: if the root ends with _x_ , the _-ts_ form replaces the _x_ with a _sk_ instead of taking the _-ts_. Ex: _emx_ _“body/vessel” → emsk “That’s my vessel now.”_

If you have to surrender or give up pursuing something, first add _-ss_ or _-n_ in slot 1 and then _kr-_ into slot 2. _Sunu “blood” → Krsunuss (“I’_ _ll_ _giv_ _e_ _you th_ _e_ _blood_ _that_ _’s not mine anymore.”)_

For nouns, offers to give something away are made the same way that you surrender a noun, but the difference is in context – for example, if you follow up with something you want a demon to do for you, that’s a deal proposal. If you’re only offering to share, use the _-n_ form.

For verbs, add _-em_ to slot 7. It’s a common mistake to add this onto nouns. _Swuu (“to kill/I will kill”) → Swuuem (“I will kill (someone/something) for you.”)_ but not _kryaass (“_ _(That’s) the soul that’s not mine anymore because it’s yours now_ _”) → *kryaassem (“*_ _(That’s) the soul that’s not mine anymore because it’s yours now for you._ _”)_

C ontrastin g things and correcting facts 

In Demontongue, a correction of facts looks like a truth contrasted with a lie. Similar structures are used for the same tasks. To contrast one thing with another, at least two words of the same type are needed.

With two nouns, using just the nouns in the sentence is like “it’s not X, but Y” or “Y is better than X.” (Literally _in contrast to X, Y is good_ .) It’s also possible to add an adjective to the sentence to change the meaning to “Y is [adjective]-er than X.” ( _In contrast to X, Y is [adjective].)_ To use the structure, add _-li_ to slot 8 of the Y verb. Ex: _sunu_ = drinkable blood, _mr_ = a delicacy made with goat tongues → _Muunu mrli_ ( _Mr is better than blood)._

It’s also possible to use a single noun plus the _-li_ ending to say “X is the best/most [adjective].”

For verbs, the verbs must be discussed as an activity, so add the most relevant suffix to the verbs in slot 4 and then add _-li_ to the better/more correct verb in noun slot 8. Ex: _skik (to mock), swuu (to kill)_ → _Skikt’y ([I’m] going to mock [you]), swuut’y ([I’m] going to kill [you]) → Skikt’y swuut’yli (It’s more accurate to say that [I’m] going to kill [you] than [I’m] going to mock [you.])_

Adjectives are an exception: negate the adjective that is the worse description in one sentence and follow up with a sentence that uses the adjective that is the better description. The sentence can just be that adjective. Ex: _ae_ = unskilled/bad at, _ln_ = stupid. _Yln_ _. Ae._ (One possible interpretation: “I’m not stupid, I’m just bad at this.” Another possible interpretation: it more that [someone] is bad at it than that [someone] is stupid.”)

*It’s a common mistake for second language learners to negate the first noun of the “not X but Y” usage. For example, _gande t’sindeli_ → _not this dwelling but that dwelling_ , but _ga_ _k_ _rnde t’sindeli_ → _That dwelling is better than_ _that not-_ _dwelling._

Commands

For Tier 1 verbs, the start of the first consonant will strengthen, if possible, and the verb will be said in an authoritative tone. This is verb slot 3.

*Note: if it’s not possible to strengthen the first consonant, and it’s really required to make the verb a command, normally demons change the verb into a noun form and have it as the object of _tsae_ instead. However, there are exceptions, most commonly with negated verbs that have their _r_ before the first consonant of the root, as in _rwum (to not look)_. For the negative verbs, _r_ is moved after the root consonants, and then made into a command.

Ex: _rwum (not to look) → *wrum (a strictly hypothetical form of wum) → skrum (don’t look)_.

For Tier 2 verbs, the start of the root’s first sound will double up on itself, if possible. Again, the verb will be said in an authoritative tone. This is verb slot 2.

Ex: _muwugl (to make [someone] agree) → mmuwugl (Make [someone] agree.)_

Deals

The typical pattern from a demon is first their demand and then how they’ll reward you. The typical pattern from a summoner is first the reward and then the desire, but this can be flipped if the summoner feels confident in beating the demon or is just that stupid. Beginners will often make the mistake of stating a demand first and then offering a reward, and this mistake almost always ends with the beginner getting killed.

Expressing Identity/Describing things.

If one thing is another, just name both nouns or the noun and the adjective. Ex: _T’siyaa_ _(that soul), uuss (my food) → uuss t’siyaa (that soul is my food)._ _Gasus (this baby), ln (stupid) → Gasus ln (this baby is stupid)._ If describing yourself, you can just use the phrase that describes you. Ex: _yln (not stupid) → Yln (I’m not stupid)._ If describing the person you’re talking to, you can just use the phrase that describes them. Ex: _ae (unskilled/bad at),_ _xe (really)_ _→ Xe ae! (You’re really bad at this!)_

Extortion

The typical pattern for extorting a demon is first to make a threat in a question form, and then to demand something from the demon.

Talking About Things You Have Others Do

If you’re making someone do something, add _gl_ in slot 6. The resulting form is now the root of a Tier 2 verb.

*Note: Often, the younger generations will pretend the resulting form is now the root of a Tier 1 verb instead.

“This” and “That”

In Demontongue, these are prefixes that attach to nouns. “This” is _ga-_ and “that” is _t’si-_. These go in slot 3.

Death Threats

Demons like to make death threats when they don’t get their way. There are three common ways they make these, from easiest to survive to most difficult to survive:

1 _Xryuts_ – “Give me the chance to watch you die ( _literally “_ _not_ _breath_ _e_ _”)_ (painfully) (at my hands).” This is usually used as part of a deal. Sometimes, all you have to do to get out of it is refuse the deal, but most of the time, you should run anyway.

2 _Nnuu_ – “Death!” This is almost always a judgment for going against their “morality.” Be warned: they consider it immoral for us lesser beings not to be entertaining enough.

3 _Swuut’yem_ \- “I’m going to kill you.” Demons say this just for fun. If they do, get as far away as you can.

D iscussing Activities 

There are multiple ways to do this in Demontongue:

If you’re talking about seeing something happen or doing something for someone so they can watch you, add -u to verb slot 4. If you’re talking about hearing something happen or doing something for someone so they can hear you, do the same. (This becomes a noun root that can also take verb slots that apply only to gerunds.) *Note: “iu” is rewritten as “yu.” _Xi (to breathe) → Xyu (“I saw (someone) breathe.”)_

If you’re talking about doing something nasty to someone else out of spite, or just for fun, add -t’y to verb slot 4 (This becomes a noun root that can also take verb slots that apply only to gerunds.), and if you’re actually going to do it, add -em to verb slot 5.

If you’re talking about something that already happened add -k to verb slot 4. (This becomes a noun root that can also take verb slots that apply only to gerunds.)

M aking Threats  (General)

There are two main ways to make threats in Demontongue:

1) State what you will do or dish out.

For nouns, negate your claim to the noun and then commit yourself to it by adding _em_ in slot 3. For example, _ae_ (pain) → _aen_ (our pain) → _kraen_ (not our pain) → _kraenem_ (we will give you the pain that isn’t ours).

For verbs, if there is is a vowel, a y, a w, an _n_ , an _m_ , an _l_ , or an _r_ two letters or less away from the front of the verb, and the first letter is not an _x_ , add an _s_ in slot 2. Otherwise, use the verb as is. For example, _yawuu_ (to win or gain something, especially through deception) → _syawuu_ (I’m going to trick you out of something), but _skik_ (to mock) → _skik_ (I will mock you), and _xn_ (to spread rumors ) → _xn_ (I will spread rumors about you).

Exceptions:

Some words, like _nnuuaet_ (revenge) and _nnuu_ (death) work as threats by themselves.

There are some idioms that are threats.

*If your threat has a condition, make the threat first so the demon knows you’re serious, and then state what the demon can do to prevent you from carrying it out. For instance, if the threat is “Give my friend back, or I’ll drag you to an exorcist,” threaten to drag the demon to the exorcist first and then say to give your friend back. If the threat is “If you eat that soul, I’ll kill you,” threaten to kill the demon first and then say not to eat the soul.

2) State what you will deliver to.

This can only be done with nouns. Add _em_ to slot 3. _Wiyuu_ (an exorcist) → _Wiyuuem_ (I’ll take you to an exorist.)

For extortion, see _extortion_ instead.

Starting and stopping (an activity).

This isn’t something demons typically do with their language unless they’re making a command. This particular language task actually takes two sentences to do:

Sentence 1 – The appropriate command form for a verb like _start_ or _stop_. _Sae_ (to stop) → _Tsae_ or _ssae_ (stop).

Sentence 2 (optional) – A command to start or stop the thing that the person spoken to should start or stop. _Xn_ (to spread rumors) → _xrn_ (to not spread rumors) → _krn_ (don’t spread rumors).

 _Ssae. Krn._ \- _Stop spreading rumors._

**Names**

Demon Names

Demons can have multiple names, depending on who’s talking about them and what the social function is.

_Birth names_

It’s typically only members of a demon’s immediate family who use a demon’s birth name. These names are usually insults that parents use to describe their offspring, but favorite children might receive a backhanded compliment instead. These are the names that are jealousy guarded because of the power they give others over a demon.

_Self-bestowed names_

When a demon is old enough to leave their parents, they give themselves a flattering name that describes the demon they think they are or the demon they would like for themselves to be. If other demons have sufficient respect for the demon (through fear, for example), this is also the name they’ll use for the demon.

_Societal names_

Demons usually name other demons in their circles the same way they would name an infant – only without the chance of a back-handed compliment. Typically, names are bestowed by the top demons of a social circle, but they might come about through general consensus as well. Demons may have multiple societal names if they run in many different circles.

Foreign Names

Demons usually translate names as a descriptor (or the actual name) plus an insult. For humans, _uu_ _\+ your name_ is pretty standard unless the demon knows you well. Technically, _uu_ isn’t actually an insult, but knowing it means “food” isn’t exactly comforting. They will recognize any name a human uses for a person as a name.

**Translations:**

Chapter  5

 _Nnuuaet's kryaassem_ \- This is a slightly ungrammatical sentence that Larry Ruth used to mean “If you give me my revenge, I will give you my soul.” It actually means "If you give me my revenge, I commit to giving you my soul if."

Chapter  6

 _Oyuk t'simyaskaet'_ \- "What did you get from that summoner?" (Presumably, the spider is referring to the deal with Larry Ruth, but it could be asking about Henry's terms of employment with Joey Drew.)

 _T'simyazyuzhu uurusye_ \- This is an ambiguous sentence. There are two likely meanings: 1) "I know I saw you at that summoning that happened with Ruth (or some trusted source did anyway)." Or 2) "I know Ruth saw you at that summoning." The spider did not clarify Ruth's role in the sentence with any sort of role marker.

 _Ndets_ \- "I claim this home."

 _Nden_ \- "This is our home." In the context of his relationship with Henry and what's known about Henry's situation at this point, it has a feeling somewhere between "You may enter" and "My home is your [Henry's] home." Joey's follow-up of "Come on in" is a pretty good translation.

Chapter 7

_Yaass_ – “That’s my soul!” Joey is forbidding Xnmr from eating him.

 _K’ismukgl_ – “Don’t make him smell it!” It’s not clear if Joey means that Xnmr shouldn’t share his sense of smell with Henry for all souls or just his. Presumably, he means all souls.

 _Wiyuuem xe, xnmr? Xenrits!_ – “Give me Henry, or I’ll drag you to an exorcist myself, Xnmr!”

 _Xenrits! T’it’lxm swii xenrits,_ _ga_ _kruss._ – “Give me Henry! If you give me Henry for five and a half days, I’ll give you this food.”

Chapter 8

_Tsae. Yasunskikuski skrum jowidruski._ \- “Stop looking for the Ink Machine, and don’t look for Joey Drew either.” Even without the blood and tears, the command is slightly stronger in Demontongue than it is in English.

Chapter 10 

_Snduts, Xnmr! Ugaemx, ugaguts._ \- “Tell me the full truth, Xnmr: who are you?” ( _Literally “Give me the hearing of the having the full story, Xnmr. Question-is-this-vessel. Question-is-this-demon.”)_ This is an open-ended demand for information on both the demon and the human body that Joey Drew assumes he’s grabbing onto. The English equivalent that Joey himself gives is “Tell me who and what are you are, Xnmr!”

Chapter 12 

_R gr_ \- “Don’t refuse.” The thing Caesar is complaining about here is Wulisae’s generation making the _r_ a separate word rather than saying _rgr_.

 _Smuwugluss_ \- “Give me the chance to see you (try to) make me agree.” This is the younger generations’ variant on _mmuwugl_ , a semi-common Demontongue expression meaning “(just try to) make me.” The thing Caesar is complaining about here is the generation’s tendency to treat Tier 2 verb roots like Tier 1 verb roots.

Chapter 13 

_Nde t’it’lxm. Nde gande. Ga k rnde t’sindeli lisnet’u!_ \- “There was a dwelling (at some point). Now the dwelling is this dwelling. Remember and make it not this not-dwelling but that dwelling!” Emilio is attempting to ask the part of his house that was changed to a cartoon-like environment to be changed back to how it was before. However, his bad grammar made it unclear what he was asking for.

 _T’sindets!_ \- “Give me that dwelling!” This is Emilio’s second attempt to get his house back to normal. However, this is an odd thing to say of a residence that he’s already claimed and no one is challenging his rights to.

 _K rzukss, t’sindeli lisnet’u -_ “I’ll give you some goat’s milk if you remember the way that dwelling I was and make it like that.” At last, Emilio successfully bribes any listening magical entities that speak Demontongue with some goats milk for reversing Henry’s accidental magic.

Chapter 14 

_Snduts xiiziiss, Bendy_ \- “Give me the full story about my child, Bendy.”

Chapter 16

_Oorn_ \- "like-minded"

 _Arn_ \- "nearby"


	3. In Which Joey Meets a Problem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the canon that links all stories in my BATIM Multiverse series together. It contains the most convenient or relevant path to each ending as they occur. This story is being rewritten.
> 
> No CYI Endings used yet.

Joey Drew Jr. couldn’t imagine a problem bigger than keeping his father’s company afloat while the cartoon industry was floundering in the United States, but he met him by chance. Not that he had any way of recognizing the man sitting in line for a loan consultation at Heritage Bank at 10:58AM that Monday morning.

He ignored him at first, too engrossed in dabbing his carrot-colored tie with damp paper towels, but the black ink was staying in the fabric.

“Need some help? Here, you keep it.” The stranger was offering him a bottle with a black cap, his blue eyes glinting as if with some joke he kept from Joey. Ink remover.

Joey accepted the bottle. “Surprising to find someone carrying something like this around.”

“I’m an animator. Or I was. I worked for Animation Tent.”

Raising his eyebrows, Joey glanced up from his tie. The man beside him was glaring at a marble pillar. “Wasn’t that several states away?”

“I had nothing to do with it.” The man gripped the edge of the bench – once of the fancy ones with its arms and legs in a ball-and-claw pattern – as though it could squish and relieve stress. With how white his knuckles were, Joey could bet the same pressure applied to his wheelchair would pop a tire.

“Easy there. Breathe a little.”

The man did. He pulled his hand back into his lap, leaving behind a slight mark. “Sorry. I had nothing to do with it, but the activists were happy to jump on another _cult_. My reputation’s trashed.”

Joey tapped his chin. “Animator. _Cult_. And I think I’d remember a name if you’d turned in a suspicious application to my company. You Henry Ross?”

Henry’s eyes widened. “You work with cartoons?”

Joey held out a hand. “Joey Drew. Welcome home.”

Instead of shaking his hand, Henry held his away. He glared at Joey. “It’s _Stein._ Same as my grandfather’s.”

Joey glanced up the bench. Henry was in line directly before him, and there were two people in line ahead of Henry. At this rate, he had forty minutes to convince him to let him into his life. “I’ve heard you're a very talented artist. It’s a pity.”

Henry was watching a fly crawl across the wall. “Be quiet.”

Joey let him have a moment. He listened to the clock over the entrance doors tick off the seconds. “I can see bits of my sister-”

“She was not your sister!”

The other patrons glanced their way. Joey put on a smile and waited until he lost their eyes. “Alright then. I can see bits of your mother in you. You’ve got her eyes and ears, and your hair’s the same dirty blond. I looked up to her until she moved out.” He frowned. “ _Was_?”

“Three months ago. Thanks to your dad.”

Joey blinked. “How? He’s been dead almost a year now! He didn’t leave a curse on her he couldn’t break, did he?”

“A Drew breaking curses. That’s a good one.” Henry scooted closer to the other patrons, but his eyes remained on Joey, taking a peek toward his empty pockets before they settled on watching his hands.

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

Henry kept staring. He jumped as Joey pulled the soiled towels away from his tie.

Joey showed him what was in his hands. “It’s okay. It’s just from the ink. I was trying some new designs for Alice and Scratch last night. I didn’t realize I’d spilled until I got here.”

Finally, Henry’s eyes moved away, but they stopped on the loan office door and his lips were shut.

Joey grabbed his wheels and set them at a better angle to speak to Henry. “I don’t know who you’ve got, but you’re my last relation still alive.”

“The answer is no.” Henry crossed his arms. “I wasn’t lying to you earlier.”

Had he heard correctly? Joey tilted his head. “Henry, I haven’t asked anything of you.”

Henry shook his head.

“Do you really want to avoid an uncle you’ve never met that badly?”

If the flames in Henry’s glare were real, the blaze would jump to that wooden door with the _INTEREST AND LOANS_ sign and consume it within five seconds. “I’m not that desperate to remain an artist, Drew.”

Joey laughed. “Who said anything about you working for me? Weren’t you just telling me how bummed you are about it? What self-respecting animation company is going to hire you?”

Henry bared his teeth, reminding Joey of a predator.

Thirty-six minutes. He could try again a bit later.

Joey sat up in his chair, balled up the paper towels, and tossed them toward a trash can. They hit the rim and bounced off. He had to ask someone to throw them away properly for him.

When he leaned back, his neck hairs were prickling.

Henry’s eyes were on him.

“What?”

Henry looked away.

Joey put a hand on his nephew’s shoulder and leaned as close as he could. “If you did want a second chance, I’m going to need more animators once this loan goes through. But you leave your magic behind. Understand?”

It took Henry a moment to shut his jaw. “You don’t want me to summon demons for you?”

His brows raised, Joey checked Henry’s face for any common tells. But he was blinking just enough, pupils dilated; and his brows were raised just enough that Joey found no trace of deception. The closest the other man had gotten to meeting a demon was looking in a mirror at that sharp widow’s peak of his, wasn’t it? Joey offered his hand again. “Can you forgive me for ever doing it myself?”

“I had nothing to do with it.” Henry shook Joey’s hand. “So why apply for a loan at these rates?”

  


There was an earthquake that night, just strong enough to wake Henry. He opened his eyes to an uncapped pen rolling off his desk, straight toward his nose.

He snatched it in mid-air and set it in his pen holder. As he lay back down, he grumbled, “I didn’t miss this.”

He forgot about it until he came out for breakfast, where Mr. and Mrs. Underwood, old friends of his mother’s, were sitting around eggs and toast, watching the morning news. A thin anchor in a green suit was explaining that there was a fifty percent chance that there would be storm clouds overhead, and the Underwoods were complaining that the channel hadn’t mentioned any earthquake.

As Henry grabbed a piece of toast to eat on his way out the door, Mrs. Underwood set down her glass of orange juice. “Lydia told me that there are some vacancies in the Hillwood Apartments. You can try there.”

Henry grunted. Sure, those were on the way out to the dump, but they looked like they belonged there themselves: crumbling bricks, paint faded, lawn a jungle, broken windows, and just a touch of graffiti. Besides, if Joey Drew convinced him to renege for a position at his studio, he’d want something closer to there.

“What was that?”

He swallowed. “I said I’ll look into it.”

Mr. Underwood cocked an eyebrow. “That’s what you wear to the dump?”

“The job hasn’t started yet. I’ve got other business.”

Outside, he found an unwelcome surprise: apples. Hard, bruised, and lying around his Honda. Others were on its roof and hood, along with dents and apple meal. A bit of juice streaked down his rear window, making a mess of his temporary license plate and filling the car’s preexisting scratches.

The sickly-sweet smell burned Henry’s nostrils.

He knocked the apples off the hood and peeked at the engine, but the damage was only cosmetic. As soon as he’d rid the fruit from the rest of his car, he got in and drove to Joey Drew Studios.

The only visitor spot still available was next to a well-waxed Stutz Blackhawk, so he circled around the lot in search of any place else he could park. There was one handicapped spot and some service vehicle spots, but everywhere else was full.

He was almost to the front door when a gentleman in a well-pressed black suit strode out, nose in the air, and pulled the Stutz keys from his pocket.

Henry hurried inside. He found himself in a foyer where a red-headed man was examining some spinning gears on the wall. “Excuse me. I have an appointment with Joey Drew?”

The man gestured toward an elevator without turning around. “His office is on the third floor, past HR. He’s probably lost in his books by now.”

Henry went and found him easily.

Joey was not lost in his books. Instead, he was involved with looking over group sketches.

Henry wanted to get his attention by clearing his throat, but some tune that was bouncy and a little spooky was leaking through the ceiling. Instead, he called the other man’s name.

Joey grinned. “You’re here!” He put the sketches down and pulled a stapled packet out instead, and the two of them spoke business.

In the end, Henry took Joey’s offer, and Joey took him for a tour of the studio immediately.

He started with the characters, most of whom Henry was already familiar with. There was an angel named Alice, a wolf named Boris, and the studio’s most popular villain – a demon named Scratch. There were also several characters that Henry had been unaware had names, like Woolly the Sheep, and Gutsy the Skeleton.

As Joey gestured for Henry to follow him out the door, he started talking about the project he was hired on for – an ambitious break-in to the world of VHS. Joey wanted samples of Henry’s work before deciding where in the project to put him, but he did show Henry around the art and writing departments.

  


When Joey looked through Henry’s portfolio, he let out a whistle. “If Animation Tent relied on your talent rather than dabbling in the occult, maybe they’d still have a future.”

Henry snorted. “How would backgrounds alone save a failing company?”

Joey turned to the last page in the packet, and his eyes widened. “You’ve got good taste.”

Henry had drawn the studio’s foyer, and his sketch was somewhere between realism and a simple cartoon – there was detail, but the lines were too thick for life; the lighting was perfectly captured with the hard light radiating from the overhead fixtures and soft morning light coming in through the windows, but the walls and floor were only one hue of yellow at their base; and although Joey could picture the reels on the far wall moving, he knew for a fact that they didn’t read _ACME Productions._

The man’s response was a smile. “So what are you having me do?”

“There are two things I want you to focus on right now. One – our debut episode for the VHS series is an object lesson about not messing with magic. I want you to dream up a hell for it. Two – we’re going to need a new character for this episode. Someone who can help Alice out of hell. Think you can do it?”

Henry shuffled. “Characters?”

“Why not? You draw beautifully!” Joey went back through the portfolio until he reached a page that showed a street full of see-through specters flying overhead, humorous faces glowing in pumpkins, and little legs that stuck out from under capes and bed sheets.

Standing tall to the side was a man in a pin-stripe tuxedo and a shiny red vest. Horns poked through his black hair, and claws sliced the fingertips off his white gloves. His fingers were posed as though they’d just snapped, and a jet of flame climbed the space over his hand.

But Henry pointed to a lack of face on one of the specters. “Because that’s the only character I’ve ever thought up in my life – and I was a kid at the time. This scene is one of my childhood memories. My father dressed up as a magician and took us out trick-or-treating. He terrified the neighbor kids with his fire trick and had his own kids so scared we were expecting ghosts to show up.”

“Sounds like quite the prankster.” Joey leaned back.

Henry was scowling. “The point is I don’t have the right imagination for a character.”

“You don’t have to. It’s one of the tricks in this industry – get an actor to pose for you and draw them as if they were Hades or something.”

The scowl didn’t budge.

Joey handed Henry’s portfolio back to him. “Tell you what: focus on hell itself for now. We can ease you into character design later.”

“Right. Focus on hell. I can do that.” Henry trudged out, his nails tearing at the edges of his rolled-up sketches.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:
> 
> Take notice.
> 
> Question of the week:
> 
> Who is your favorite cartoon villain?
> 
> Disclaimer:
> 
> This is a fanfic of Bendy and the Ink Machine and is not an official part of the franchise in any way.


	4. In Which Hell is Used Car Lots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last time:
> 
> Henry and Joey’s relationship has a rough start, but Henry agrees to work for Joey. There are some odd things going on, but Henry gets to work showing Joey what he can do. Joey asks him to do something he think he can’t – create characters.  
> CYI endings used: Chapter 127
> 
> Cheat path:
> 
> 1 Know that you’re Henry  
> 2 Climb the boards  
> 3 Break the boards  
> 4 Have moderate luck on your roll  
> 5 Choose the left  
> 6 Follow the link  
> 7 Climb an elevator shaft  
> 8 Look for the artist  
> 9 Look for more messages  
> 10 See a message about a family  
> 11 Make a wish  
> 12 Dance for Boris  
> 13 You have a radio, so you can click the right link  
> 14 Find Alice  
> 15 Follow the link

Once he asked for his desk in the art department, it was time to make his own hell. Henry got some fresh paper and took it back to his middle-of-the-room.

His neck hairs stood up, so he looked around. The room was filled with scratching pens and busy coworkers, but no one was looking his way. Why did he get the feeling he was being watched?

Henry took a breath and scribbled it out as an idea: plenty of places where demons can hide and watch you. Eyes? Maybe. Shadows and boulders? Yes. Storm clouds?

For five minutes, he sat and brainstormed. For five minutes, he wrote notes on flames and scorch marks and lava and pictures of volcanoes that he thought he could work with. But after five minutes, a chubby man ran in, yelling about a fire extinguisher and a parking lot.

Henry joined the crowd heading outside. He jostled down the stairs and squeezed through the studio’s side door.

There was a pillar of smoke rising from the far end of the parking lot, over where he’d parked. He shoved his way to the asphalt and ran.

It was his car on fire. The heat pressed to his sweat-drenched shirt. The smell of melting plastic assaulted his nose. Where was that fire extinguisher?

The chubby man caught up and aimed the hose.

Henry lifted the hot hood and let him douse the fire from his engine.

The man foamed the car up and threw the empty extinguisher into a now-empty stall with a clang. Grumbling, he stormed into a forest-green car on the far side of Henry’s and revved the engine. He backed out with squelching breaks.

Shaking the last of the heat from his fingers, Henry turned his head away from the other car to look inside his engine instead. He bailed the foam, but the car was gummed up. “Hell is used car lots.”

He’d have to bum a ride home, but for the time being, he called his insurance company and moved his sketching outside. He relaxed in the cool air, flicking the occasional spider away from his canvas.

His hell was still simple, but it had a flat stretch that he could add car-sized boulders to and a still-smoking scorch mark. By the end of the work day, he had a blackened ground on which demons scorched their prey, hiding among a jagged landscape, sharp canyons, and skull-like homes. Smoke drifted across the landscape and lava bubbled down in the rivers.

 

Over the next week, Joey had his nephew design several more hellish settings. Sometimes the buildings had windows broken from either side, glass shattered against grounds and floors. Sometimes there were scorch marks where the bottom of something-or-other lay outlined in the ashes, and Joey could practically feel the embers. But always, there were shadows and hints of a presence that had Joey’s skin crawling.

With his own work, his hand flew across panels, page after page of crisp paper stacking up until he was ready to present a preliminary storyboard. He asked his nephew to help him set up for a project meeting.

They cleared off a rolling bulletin board and put the story board across the top. They took a second one and pinned copies of Henry’s hell to it.

As Joey was putting up a scene of a mountainous mansion, he shuddered: had he just seen rock and ash dropping from a slope? He pointed to the paper. “How did you draw this one?”

Henry glanced at it. “Oh that? I recently read an article about a monastery in the Himalayas, so I brought in reference photos, changed the temple to a palace and all the snow to flame.”

Joey peered at the palace. Did it always have that patch of black on its roof, or was he just imagining things?

“Everything alright?”

He pinched his nose. “I must have worked harder on the storyboard than I thought. I’ve got to get some good rest this weekend.”

 

Henry moved into an apartment that weekend – the Glenn. One bedroom. One bathroom. Barely one hundred square feet. The walls were scratched and the linoleum smelled of cat, but he’d make do. With enough Pine-Sol, maybe the stench would come out.

He waved goodbye to the Underwoods and unpacked his half-a-box of dishes.

No food. No cleaning supplies. No sheets for the mattress lying on the bedroom floor. He’d have to go shopping, and with his car in the shop, he’d have to take a bus.

He locked up and walked four blocks through muggy, gang-tagged streets to the bus stop and spent another half hour hanging from a ring to reach the Target. He made it a quick stop for plain white sheets and made his way across the street to the Albertsons. He grabbed a basket. Bread. Beans. Milk.

When he went for his eggs, they were blocked by a cart and a four-foot-eleven blonde. “Excuse me.”

The blonde turned her head. Her eyes widened. “Aren’t you the guy from the bank?”

His cheeks warmed. “I don’t normally act that way.”

“We all have off days.” She clasped her hands together. “I just wanted to ask, is it true they summoned a demon? You’d think something bad would have happened by now.”

Henry swallowed. “Yeah, they summoned one. I don’t know what happened with it.”

“Do you think it might have followed you?” The woman turned her head away.

So did Henry. His eyes scanned the aisle – everywhere from the pale light overhead to a spider crawling under the shelves.

“A demon. Here. In our town.”

His skin erupted with chills, and he swore under his breath.

The blonde met his eyes, the color reminding him of the soot in his engine.

He hadn’t meant to spook her.

Excusing himself, he reached for some eggs. On his way from the aisle, he spotted the man with the Blackhawk.

Blondie ran straight up to him.

Summoning a demon to scare the populace? That wasn’t an artist’s way. He was only in it to bring the joy that makes folks human.

 

Joey’s plans for his Sunday included lounging around in his bathrobe and reading the morning paper, but it didn’t take long for his thoughts to turn to his nephew: on an inner page was an article _FORMER ANIMATION TENT CEO FOUND DEAD_.

His heart started beating against his ribs. His grip tightened on the thin pages.

Former Animation Tent CEO Larry Ruth was found dead on the backseat of an abandoned taxi Friday evening, lying part-clothed, mouth hanging open, mascara marks on his cheek. Investigations are on-going, but autopsy confirms the death was not of a violent cause.

It may not have been the most detailed article, but it was enough for Joey to grab his phone from the counter. His stomach threatened to spew liquid to match the yellow of his phone as he realized he didn’t have his nephew’s number. Nor did he have his address.

Cursing to himself, he grabbed clothes, not caring if the button-up didn’t go with the sweatpants, wheeled out his apartment, down the hall, and took the lift to the ground floor. Only two blocks to get himself to the studio and it was far too many.

Even when he got to the studio, it wasn’t Henry who answered the number on his file – some Mr. Underwood, who didn’t have Henry’s new line.

Joey made phone call after phone call, but nothing came of anything. He had to go home and squeeze into the second bedroom he used as a closet – the one with the barren walls and the dark, ink-stained machine hogging the space and devouring his electricity.

He pressed a button to turn on the display. Status: Running. Interact with instance?

Yes.

The screen showed a river of black, hardly any light glinting off it. Was anyone around at all? “Hello?” he called. “Dad? Mr. or Mrs. Stein? Luke?”

Something whispered. Joey strained his ears to make out _he wants the Storyteller._ He waited a moment and the ink bubbled. Out rose a middle-aged human Toon sitting in a rocking chair – what was left of his father.

“Joey?”

Joey placed his hand to the machine’s warm metal. “How do I banish a demon I didn’t summon?”

The Storyteller looked as though he’d taken a bite of dog poo. “Do you know who did?”

“I know of at least one – he’s dead – but it might have been a group effort.”

 _Creeaaak._ It shouldn’t have been possible with the chair half-submerged in ink, but the sound came from the Storyteller leaning forward in it. “Any connection to you?”

“Not that I know of, but it’s been _here_ too!”

The Storyteller stood. His chair sunk back into the ink. “Here as in your apartment?”

“Not since I put up those stronger wards you taught me, but Henry-”

A clawed hand surfaced from the ink. A pie-eyed demon popped its face out. “What about me?”

The Storyteller turned and put his hand back into the blackness, as though to put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I’m glad you still remember your name, old friend, but my son wasn’t talking about you. Did I tell you that your grandson is working for him now?”

Henry narrowed his eyes at the Storyteller. “You told me Bor- Luke is eight. Who would he have a son with?”

“Not through Luke. Through your daughter, who survived that day.”

Henry’s eyes closed. His mouth pressed into a flat line. He put a glove to the side of his head.

“Do you remember?”

Slowly, Henry opened an eye. “My name is Scratch.” He closed his eyes again and shook his head. “No, I _know_ you’re telling the truth. My name is Henry. I think…” Henry’s mouth opened for a large breath. “My daughter, did she like the water rides?”

“Yes, that’s her.” The Storyteller wrapped his arm around the other Toon’s shoulders and lifted him from the ink. He stumbled forward with a clip-clip-clop, ink dripping back to the mass from his suit and vest.

The Storyteller looked back toward the display. “You were saying?”

“Henry’s car caught fire the other day.”

“Is he alright?” Scratch’s features had never looked tamer than they did on Henry – wide-eyed, tail curled around himself, fangs digging into his lower lip. It was almost though he were a worried monkey rather than a demon, but Joey supposed it wasn’t fair to call him a demon when he had a human soul inside.

Joey forced a smile. “He wasn’t in the car at the time.”

“And now?”

“I don’t know.” Though Scratch wouldn’t be able to see Joey’s trembling hands from inside the machine, he pressed them to his lap to hold them still. “Don’t have his number, but it looks like the demon left town for a bit.”

The Storyteller released his grip on Scratch. “Why don’t you go tell Linda? We’ll keep you updated.”

Scratch frowned. He stayed floating on the ink and glared at his friend.

“You’re not going to like this any better than you liked hearing that I sent you and your family to the real hell, alright? We’ll keep you updated.”

“You better.”

Scratch sank, and the Storyteller watched the ink silently for a minute. Finally, he leaned toward the display. “Look, Joey, do you think he’s involved?”

He leaned into the machine. “I don’t know. He says he’s not, but I’m not so sure about that. I promised him-”

“Promise? What good is a promise if you don’t intend to keep it? You swore you wouldn’t put up with any more magic at our studio!”

“I’m not putting up with it! I promised Henry I’d give him a chance only if he didn’t bring magic there.” His hand yanked the hair at the back of his head. “I don’t know what to think. He looks suspicious, but he didn’t trust me because of _my_ summoning a demon. I just suspect something’s after him. How do I get rid of it?”

“Back out.”

Joey startled upright. “What?”

His father crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, as he often had when he dared Joey to challenge him again without hearing him out. “Back out. Send him someplace holy instead. It’s safer for everyone.”

“I promised him another chance to be an animator. How do I get rid of a demon I didn’t summon?”

The Storyteller shook his head.

“Dad!”

His father’s chair emerged from the ink, and the Storyteller went back to sitting. “If Henry helped summoned it, it’s easiest for him to be the one to send him back.”

And that was anything but easy. The summoner would need to feel true regret for seeking a demon’s power to send it back to hell, have a change of heart sincere enough to last the rest of their life. Henry seemed more defensive than haunted.

But he was his nephew. Could Joey forgive himself for summoning demons if he didn’t forgive him for doing the same? “If that’s not an option?”

“No.” The Storyteller started sinking back into the ink. “It’s much easier to beckon someone from hell than to take them there without going yourself.”

He wasn’t going to tell him how to vanquish the demon, was he? “I won’t then! But Henry might still be innocent. What do I do then?”

The Storyteller stopped, only his face sticking out from the ink – just his nose, eyes, and mouth. Even his brows were submerged. “If he’s innocent, a church should sort it out quickly and he can get back to drawing. Otherwise, he will have to get rid of the demon himself.”

“How can I tell which he is?”

The moment the words left Joey’s mouth, he thought he knew what his answer would be: to send Henry to the church. But what came out was “You’ll have to put yourself in a position to notice any magic around him. Come back and tell me what you observe.”

 

When Joey went to work the next day, he arrived before Henry, but Henry’s sample art was still in his office, and Joey saw it from the corner of his eye – motion. A closer look showed volcanic ash sweeping across Henry’s landscape, and not just in the impression it gave off.

Magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:
> 
> Spiders.
> 
> Question of the week:
> 
> What would be the most terrifying aspect of a possessed Henry?


	5. In Which Henry Makes a Deal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last time:
> 
> After Henry loses his car in a fire, other signs of the supernatural appear, such as Henry’s drawings moving by themselves. While he is out grocery shopping, a member of the community asks about the possibility of a demon being in their town.
> 
> On Sunday, Joey talks to the residents of the Ink Machine about Henry.

Monday morning, Henry found Joey sitting in front of his desk, a packet of beaten papers in his boss’s hands and a blank page of sketch paper set out for him.

He supposed it was time to design a character? Well, as long as he got to talk to Joey.

As Henry got seated, the two barely had time to exchange pleasantries because Joey’s eyes were fixed on Henry, and his neck hairs stood as they would if anyone else was staring at him. “What?”

“Nothing.” Joey flipped through the pages in his packet.

Henry saw several existing characters’ model sheets, but he wasn’t interested enough to watch his boss instead of getting his pencils out. He had a single sliding drawer under his desk where he could keep his supplies, and the moment he got it open, a hoard of spiders ran out like a living black rug. One tickled its silky legs across his hand and up his sleeve.

He yelped.

A rolled-up packet knocked the spider off his sleeve. Joey whacked at a few spiders that remained on the desk. Most scattered, but he got one whose corpse lay on the corner.

Henry swallowed. “I don’t remember this city having so many spiders.”

“The city?” Joey asked, reaching for something in his pocket. “Not the studio? I was about to say we need a good exterminator, but if you’ve been seeing a lot of them, maybe I should suggest someone to get rid of them for you?”

It wasn’t that Henry had seen a lot of them, not until he opened the desk. He doubted that an exterminator could help when the problem was that he kept seeing them anywhere he went, and so he shook his head.

“You sure?”

He wrapped his hand around his pencil set and glanced at Joey.

Joey’s lips were flat and his eyebrows were low, and Henry could only think of one reason why he would be giving him that look. “I didn’t do it, but I did see the summoning in progress. Do you think something might have followed me?”

Joey relaxed into his chair. “Any church should have an exorcist.”

A church? Sure. But no.

Henry could imagine the scene on the sketch paper: a towering building with a letter-board out front proclaiming damnation.

He took a breath to steady his hand. “So how do we design a character?”

“Let’s get you warmed up first. Draw just the outline for any of our characters.”

Henry scritched Sratch onto the paper – at least in terms of drawing where the head, the body, and the hands and feet should be. He added the curving horns on too.

And then he peered at Joey. “You’ve summoned demons before, right? How did you get rid of them?”

Joey frowned. “If you didn’t summon it, you’ve got to go to a church.”

“Right.” Henry glared at the group of circles that represented Scratch. Pointing his paper toward them, he asked, “Now what?”

“Do it again. Without any distinguishing characteristics.”

As Henry traced circles, Joey was scratching something down.

He raised his eyebrow. “Am I being evaluated?”

“Your art’s fine. Just promise me you’ll go to a church.”

Henry snorted. He kept his mouth shut as he finished his latest group of circles.

Joey scooted close enough to prod the dead spider with a white ball-pen, which he did. He turned the spider around so that its fanged mouth and multitude of eyes were facing Henry, legs spread out, one lost in the process. It lay bent like a stray hair on the light wood. “I haven’t seen this type of spider before. I don’t think it’s from around here.”

His skin crawling, Henry stared at the spider. “Do I have to keep that thing on my desk?”

“You don’t have to, but if we’re easing you into character design, it might make a convenient reference for you.”

Henry pointed his pencil toward the corpse. “You want me to make that into a cartoon character?”

“Just give it a try.” Joey, with his pen, cut another leg off the spider, making it symmetrical. “Here, I’ve simplified it for you.” He put his pen away, tore off the back page of the packet, and set the rest of it on Henry’s desk, turned to a page with basic proportions.

It only needed a few glances for Henry to proportion a face. Now how to make the spider a character?

As he worked, he stuck his tongue between his teeth. Only two eyes for the cartoon version. Maybe some fat lips and some fangs.

“Good. We just need some contrast between the face and the rest of the head and we might have the start of a usable character.”

Smiling, Henry asked, “What sort of character were we needing to lead Alice out of hell?”

“A friendly spider is a possibility.” Joey leaned on his armrest. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen this sort of spider before? Maybe one got in a moving box?”

No, but Henry knew what Joey was going to say if he didn’t say something first. “Going to a church isn’t really an option. I don’t suppose I could get you to banish the demon?”

But Joey refused with a scowl on his face, giving an outline of his reasons. “I’m assuming Larry Ruth summoned it? Do you know if there was anyone else?”

There wasn’t.

“Then I only know one way to get rid of it.”

Henry tightened his grip on his pencil. Snap! The top half bounced off the desk where the corpse once was. Even the detached legs were gone. He stared. “Where’d it go?”

“The demon?”

He jabbed a finger toward the desk. “The spider’s demonic, isn’t it?”

Joey pulled backward on Henry’s chair. It shuddered and scraped against the floor. “Church. Now.”

Slowly, Henry got to his feet. Glaring at the spider he’d drawn, he picked it up and handed it to Joey. “Here, I’ll see you in two hours or so.”

Henry left the building for bright sunshine and moist, sea-drifted air, but the place he went was first to a flower shop, where he bought two red roses, and then to a cemetery. He passed years of markers and crosses – even a new bench engraved with angels. It wasn’t near enough his sisters’ graves to be his seat during his visit, but he made the fresh-cut grass fill the role.

A deep breath awarded him the rose fragrance as he placed his sisters’ flowers in their holding cup. He wrapped his hand around the edge of the cold headstone and closed his eyes.

“It hurt. Didn’t it? Did you forgive him? Him or Dad?” He paused. “It’s been awhile. And now…. I don’t know. Might see you soon. If things go wrong. Was it worth it? Was it better than what happened? I don’t know what to do. I know what Joey says. I wish you could help me out here.”

When Henry opened his eyes, he saw something etched lightly on the stone below his sisters’ names. A pentagram.

Had that always been there?

Eyes wide, he touched it. His fingertips tingled.

Chocolate tickled his nostrils, and something cold brushed against his ear. _“Nnuuae_ _t’s_ _kryaassem.”_

He turned his head. Silver smoke was circling from the ground to the air, and in it was pressed the large nose and high brows of Larry Ruth. The specter was tilting its head and staring at Henry.

He bolted.

He whipped down the cemetery rows and didn’t look back until he reached the parking lot. 

Larry was a spot back by the twins’ graves.

Henry hurried up the block, past well-cut lawns and tall houses. He stopped under the bus stop sign and fished warm metal coins from his pockets.

“Henry.”

He tensed. When he looked over his shoulder, he took off running again.

  


Joey may have sent Henry to a church, but his drawings were still moving. The grounds were shaking, the rocks were falling, and the volcano was filling the page with thick black ink.

The samples had to go. Joey wheeled around his office, collecting Henry’s work from his clanking filing cabinets and his shelves. He piled them all on top of the cartoon spider on his desk. He opened a drawer, took out a box of paperclips, and just as he was fastening the magic mess together, Sammy Lawrence burst in.

Joey pounded his fist to his desk, laughter coming from his chest: Sammy always reminded him of the banjo he played, but at the moment, he was an ink-stained version of the instrument – from the streaks across his black-striped tie to the splatters on his round stomach. “Whoever pranked you this time, remind me to go easy on them. I needed a good laugh.”

“Prank?” Sammy slammed a soaked banjo in front of Joey. “I was waxing my banjo and what happens? The wax I just put on the instrument turns to ink! Same with the wax on the cloth and the wax in the bottle. It coats the strings, runs across the tension hoop, and soaks the head. It even weakened the dowel stick to the point that it sagged. You owe me a Yamaha.”

“You mean there’s magic at my studio?” Joey slapped a hand over his face and peeked through his fingers. “You wouldn’t have crossed Henry, would you?”

The moment Joey said the name, Sammy scowled. “He ran in and demanded we blast the amps in the middle of rehearsal. Then he tried to hide behind Derril’s tuba. If you’re saying he’s the one who did this, you’ve got to sort him out.”

Joey agreed. Burying his face in his hands, he asked Sammy to bring Henry to him.

Sammy left, but he didn’t get the chance to bring Henry back – Henry ran in first, trembling and pressing himself behind Joey. He gripped Joey’s shoulders hard enough that his nails cut into Joey’s cotton top and his fingers crushed Joey’s nerves. Joey hit him off.

Henry backed into a corner. “Exorcism _now!_ ”

“We’ll call a priest over here.” He turned his chair. “Did you sell your soul?”

Henry grabbed him. He pulled him from his chair, dragged him into the corner, and knelt in front of him, eyes fixed on that being only he could see. “Leave him alone!”

A demon? Here? Great. Joey growled in the direction he thought it was.

He was close enough to hear Henry gulp. “He’s talking nonsense again. Does _nnu_ _u_ _aet’s_ mean anything to you?”

Revenge. Henry’s demon wanted revenge. “It-”

“You’ll leave us in peace after that?”

Joey started to warn Henry that each new demonic deal was as dangerous as the first, but Henry was already reaching his arm out, and Joey couldn’t stop him.

“Deal.” On cupping an invisible hand, Henry froze. Slowly, he relaxed – stretching his legs out, leaning back against the wall, and spreading a smile across his face. He hummed. He licked his lips.

“Henry?” Joey touched his cheek. The skin was warmer than he expected, but Henry let him turn his face toward him and peer into his eyes.

Pale blue. No hint of a demon’s black, red, or green.

“I wasn’t expecting to be alright, but Larry’s gone now.”

Joey frowned. “You mean that was Larry Ruth chasing you, speaking to you in Demontongue, _and you could see him?_ ”

“I guess it’s not the first time I’ve seen a ghost.”

Whether Henry was guilty or not, Joey had to say he didn’t know much of what was going on – he was pulling his legs toward his chest and wrapping his arms around himself. He thought he saw Henry biting his lips with his sharpest teeth, if only for a moment.

Wiping sweat from his brow, Henry said, “Still, not usual. Just that one other time. Don’t know about that other stuff. Took Larry long enough to explain things in English. Said he wanted his killer taken down.”

Joey hissed a word under his breath. One he would never say when being interviewed on air. “How old were you again?”

“Sorry?”

“Halloween. How old were you?”

“I don’t know. Six?” Henry licked his lips again. This time, he put a hand to them. His other hand made a tearing sound against the office’s bright blue carpet. Five slices cut into the tuft, and bits of the underlying padding and wood stuck out from Henry’s fist. He brought the hand in front of his face and opened it up.

The debris was turning to ink and dripping from Henry’s hand.

Henry yelped and shook it off. A drop of icy liquid hit Joey’s wrist.

Joey grabbed Henry’s shoulders.

Henry met Joey’s eyes. “What’s happening to me?”

“You didn’t go to a church, did you? Do you want me to call an exor-”

“NO!”

The cursed papers fluttered around them, falling up rather than down. They stuck to the ceiling, arranged in a large circle.

Henry’s sweat was soaking through his shirt, thick enough that it could almost have been ink itself.

Joey tightened his grip. “I can’t perform an exorcism for you. I know a few wards, but they can’t cover an area larger than a closet, and they won’t protect people. Especially not if you’re already possessed.”

“No exorcist. Any other way.”

And like that, Joey’s stomach churned. His nephew was just scared, so there was no need for his thoughts to turn to the yellowing books locked away behind the Ink Machine. “I think we need to have a long talk. Come to my place after work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:
> 
> An enchanted sleep.
> 
> Question of the week:
> 
> If you could talk to anyone dead, who would it be?


	6. In Which Dolls Glow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last time:
> 
> Demons and ghosts chase Henry around, and he shows signs that he’s been possessed since he was a child.
> 
> CYI Endings used: Chapter 217
> 
> Cheat path:
> 
> 1 Know you’re Henry.  
> 2 Walk to the exit.  
> 3 Talk to Sammy.  
> 4 Drink some soup.  
> 5 Have Sammy show you what he meant by “outside.”  
> 6 Call Bendy out on his behavior.  
> 7 Have someone greeting you when you respawn.  
> 8 Go after Bendy’s weakness.  
> 9 Ask Sammy to distract Bendy.  
> 10 Play “The End” and say “goodbye.”

Joey spent his lunch break reporting the happenings with Henry to his dad.

The Storyteller frowned. “That story lines up until Animation Tent. Wouldn’t he be an empty shell with a demon inside it by the time Ruth did that summoning? The demon ought to have been summoned out of the body, and Henry’s corpse left lying on the ground.”

“Then what do you-”

“But if the demon was sealed in there, that’s a different story.” The Storyteller hung his head. “Did I ever tell you that one of my books went missing?”

He hadn’t. Joey peeked around the Ink Machine to count the number of thick spines stacked in the corner. Twelve. Same as always. “Must have been some time ago. What was the book about?”

“It was about some unusual arrangements demons made with humans. There was nothing in there to teach you any spells or how to summon a demon, so I didn’t think it mattered. Maybe. I don’t suppose we could get it back? It’s _The Illusion of Humanity_.”

Assuming his brother-in-law still had the book, he’d need to track the man down. He might need Henry’s help to do so. And asking him? How did Henry feel about his father anyway?

Joey groaned. “I’ll try, but it might be difficult. And there’s a demon in Henry right now. What do we do in the meantime?”

“Has the demon spoken to Henry?”

He wouldn’t think so.

“We’ll need to teach Henry a little Demontongue, just in case. Just enough to tell his demon _no_ or to send off the one from Animation Tent.”

That… was a very good idea, actually.

  


Henry was wet, sticky, and jumpy that afternoon. He scrambled away whenever a coworker so much as sneezed.

It got to the point where his supervisor told him to free-draw something to calm himself.

Henry had meant to stay away from paper after the incident in Joey’s office, but his fingers were itching anyway. But drawing? He knew better than to do that right now – demons, right? But what if he wrote a letter for Joey in case anything happened to him?

So he sat down and explained a little the weird stuff that had happened to him lately. He told him a little about his childhood too.

Demons.

He shivered.

He doubted they were all as cute as Scratch – not the cutest cartoon himself admittedly, but zig-zag teeth had to be cuter than whatever real demons had, covered in blood.

At least he wasn’t cuter, like a little guy with a big cheeky smile and….

An image of a cuter cartoon demon popped into his head, alongside a name: _Bendy_.

That couldn’t be normal, could it?

On Joey’s letter, he drew a quick sketch. Not a detailed one. Just the head. Just to get Bendy out of his mind. Then he told Joey more about Larry Ross, and he told him about his dad.

And Bendy came back into his mind.

With a sigh, he got out a separate sheet of paper. As revenge, he drew Bendy looking at something above his head, biting down on a stick-figure hand. He wrote the words in a small print: Chatter. Chatter.

Having put the little demon off again, Henry turned back to Joey’s letter. This time, he went into more detail about the magic happening to him.

He felt sick, so he took a coffee break that lasted a good chunk of the afternoon.

When he did return to his desk, he was able to finish Joey’s letter, but Bendy was in his head again too. He sketched the character falling head-first this time. For good measure, he added little arrows beside the stick body, declaring how far Bendy had to fall.

Minutes afterward, he found himself smiling as he finished another version of Bendy’s smiling face.

Stupid demon. Stupid part-possession.

He scowled. “Stop putting ideas in my head.”

“Oh?”

As he turned his eyes toward the speaker, they slid over the sketch with Bendy scared of something. Had he drawn the little fellow pointing above his head? It was as though Bendy were pointing to that silky spider twice the size of the ones that morning.

“But I haven’t put any ideas in your head,” the spider said.

It spoke in a layered woman’s voice, if it could indeed be said that it spoke – Henry hadn’t seen its mandible move. It was as though the voice materialized from around the spider instead.

Henry sprung from his seat. He made a fist. Smash!

The spider’s guts spread across his desk, but as he watched, the dead arachnid gathered itself together again. “How rude.”

Henry wondered why Joey couldn’t have just taught him something to chase off a demon, even temporarily. Now he had to call for a coworker to go get him.

Eight beady black eyes were glinting, and Henry got the impression the spider was laughing at him. _“_ _Oy_ _uk t’simyaskaet’?”_

He squashed the spider again.

When it revived this time, it was an inch longer. It crept closer. _“T’simyazyuzhu_ _uu_ _r_ _us_ _ye.”_

Henry called for his coworkers to get the heck away from the demonic spider, and he retreated himself. He ran toward Joey’s office and ran into the man himself.

“It’s _talking_!”

Joey leaned to the side, peering around Henry. “What did it say?”

Henry couldn’t begin to tell him. He could only mention it had been in the language that went deeper with every syllable.

Joey gestured him to the side. Glaring at the spider, he asked something in Demontongue.

The spider scuttled away.

“Hmph.” Joey crossed his arms. “You’re not welcome in my studio.”

Henry watched the spider shrink and squeeze through a gap between a baseboard and the floor. “How did you drive it off?”

“I didn’t.” He didn’t speak clearly though, too much attention directed to the silver watch on his wrist. “Go ahead and clock out. I’ll pay you for the twenty minutes of work you’ll miss. We might as well just head to my place with all the attention we’ve gotten around here.”

That. “Joey, I didn’t mean to bring magic into your studio.”

  


Joey didn’t live far from the studio, and thank goodness for that. He could have driven himself before he summoned that demon, but it was out of the question now. It was nice that he didn’t have to pay anyone to do that for him.

Now that it was time to show Henry to his place, he wheeled out the front door, onto a damp sidewalk. It was one of those days when the gray skyscrapers blended into the overcast sky.

Joey’s apartment was after the nearest light and down half a block. It sat half-way up a red brick building with white balconies.

He spotted Henry staring up at the building and cleared his throat. “Come on.”

“Is this building new? It’s in excellent condition.”

“No. It was built about twenty years ago. I just have a decent landlord.” Joey led Henry inside and to the elevator. He pressed the button for the third floor.

His door was the first on the right, and it had a crisp sheet of paper framed and hung on it.

Henry was backing away from it. “I thought you gave up magic?”

“It’s one of the wards I told you about.” Joey pointed at the spiky, zig-zagging characters running down the sheet. “It says _ndess_. It’s a way of claiming the apartment as mine against a demon.”

Henry hung back, eyes still on the sign. They were still a human blue, but that low growl coming from his throat and causing the ceramics in the hall to clatter was anything but. Of course. If there was anything demonic inside him, it would be having a hard time.

Joey beckoned him toward the door. “ _Nden._ Come on in.”

They entered into an orange living room with a puke-yellow couch and round, glass-topped coffee table. Joey rolled slowly over his shag rug and invited Henry to take a seat.

The two of them talked for a bit. They tried to start light, with topics like tools of the trade and cartoons they loved when they were children, but the conversation fell flat.

Eventually, Henry sighed. He took a letter from his pocket and handed it to Joey.

Joey skimmed it, trying to hide what he was sure was a nervous twitch that grew the more he read. At the end, he peeked over its top.

Henry had a notepad out and a stub pencil and was yanking his hair with his free hand as his dominant one drew the same cartoon demon, a character named Bendy, apparently, over again in his book.

Bendy wasn’t moving.

“I don’t think you’re right that he’s a result of you being possessed.” Joey scooted closer to the page, where Henry was drawing a boulder above his latest Bendy. “Looks like a strong creative burst. What can you tell me about him?”

Henry shrugged. “He’s a demon.”

At least now he had a way to keep Henry’s mind off things while he tried to learn more about this latest development. “I’ll look into this. Why don’t you stay here and get a grasp on Bendy?”

“How do I do something like that?”

From the looks of things, Henry’s pages were already close to full, but he might have something he could use. He asked him to hang on a moment and looked around his apartment.

All he could find were two voodoo dolls on a shelf above the Ink Machine. He had Henry come reach them for him.

Henry frowned at the dolls. “Aren’t these-”

“If you’re not binding anyone’s soul to them, they act like normal dolls. They might not be as helpful for poses as a modeling doll, but you can use them as props as you put your character through some scenario. Pretend the other one’s Scratch, and he caught Bendy on his front lawn or something.”

Raising a brow, Henry asked, “You want me to play with dolls?”

Joey reached for a button on the Ink Machine.

Henry made a sound behind him, but when Joey turned, Henry was rushing from the closet.

Right. The demon could probably smell the souls housed in here.

He refocused on the machine. Once the interface was loaded, he found Luke eating cartoon hot dogs inside the machine and asked him to get the Storyteller. He presented Henry’s handwritten list of trouble to him, but his dad couldn’t remember how strong a sealed demon would have to be to produce such a list – or at least the items on it that Henry assumed the demon inside him was responsible for.

 _Support his soul, teach him Demontongue, and get that book back_ – that was his dad’s advice. In the meantime – and this was just an idea of Joey’s – but in the meantime, he could check for any curses the demon stalking Henry might have left through that spider. Forcing a smile onto his face, he went to check on him.

Henry was tossing down two slightly-glowing dolls. “I didn’t mean to.”

Joey picked the dolls up. “Could be your demon. If he really ate Ruth, these would have to be old souls of his. They should have the names on them somewhere.”

One had a name he didn’t recognize, but it wasn’t exactly a human name: _goat breath_ – that was the translation. And the other? _Bendy._

He blinked. “If you had to rename Bendy, what would you name him?”

“I don’t know, _Shorty_ or something.”

Joey watched the name on the doll change from _Bendy_ to _Shorty_ and back. “Do you have a grasp of who he is?”

“No. Joey, why is the doll glowing? It’s Bendy, isn’t it?” Henry plopped back on the sofa. “It’s a funny type of creative block, isn’t it? I have a million ways I think I can draw Bendy, but I want him out of my head so I can move on to a safe project.”

Joey set the dolls on his coffee table. “Did your dad have a magic book? _The Illusion of Humanity_?”

“That storybook? Mom sold it years ago after she found out that our nightmares were because of dad’s bedtime stories.”

Storybook? What sort of stories?

He asked if Henry remembered any story with a sealed demon, but the only story he remembered was the one with the demons who attempted to pass themselves off as Martians. Henry grimaced as he mentioned it.

“We’ll have to get our hands on a copy, but in the meantime, are you sure you won’t see an exorcist?”

Henry swallowed. “Do you think I’ll survive something like that after being bonded with a demon this long?”

“Survive?”

Clearly, Henry knew more than he was letting on, but he didn’t elaborate.

Joey waited for a moment in case he started talking, but he didn’t. “I won’t send you to an exorcist until I know more about what’s going on with you. But you’ve got to let me help you in any other way I can, no questions asked. Try to keep that demon under control.”

Henry smiled. “Deal.”

And so Joey suggested a nap for Henry to get ideas for other characters. He excused himself to the kitchen to make a cup of chamomile tea, but if he held his hand above the finished product and hissed a spell under his breath, it wasn’t like Henry could see it through the wall.

He promised his dad he wouldn’t do magic again, but if it put that demon inside Henry asleep long enough to get a better idea of what its magic was, that couldn’t hurt anything, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:
> 
> The horrors of chocolate.
> 
> Question of the week:
> 
> How do you feed a soul?


	7. In Which Henry Eats Chocolate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last time:
> 
> Joey consults the Storyteller about Henry, who is spending the rest of his workday shaken up about the magic in Joey’s office. A spider starts talking to Henry in Demontongue, but it leaves the moment Joey shows up.
> 
> Joey takes Henry to his apartment, where he has Henry play with voodoo dolls while he decides on a course of action, which ends up being to put Henry to sleep for examination.

Joey Drew Sr had a hard time giving up his magic, so for more than fifteen years, Joey grew up with Demontongue used in his home. The language's hisses and growls, its spikes and shapes, all of it was familiar to him. He wasn’t quite a native speaker, but he was good enough to be surprised when he leaned toward a sleeping Henry to ask the demon inside him if the spider had caused any trouble with the “vessel,” and Henry responded with a flinch.

“No more of that language, please.”

It was Henry’s own voice coming from his mouth too.

Joey pinched his nose. “Who am I speaking to?”

“My name is Hennereh.”

E xcept it wasn’t  _Henner_ _eh_ that the demon said – it  was just an unusual accent, as though the demon were pronouncing it with some mix of its own strange dialect of Demontongue and  a spot-on attempt to come across as a native English speaker like its host :  the demon’s name was  Xnmr , meaning “breath” and a  foul-smelling  demonic delicacy made with fresh goat tongues  and topped with a wet, slimy, black mold.

J oey narrowed his eyes.  He reached for the warm voodoo dolls blindly, patting the cold glass of his coffee table until he found them. “ Most demons give a self-important title when someone asks who they are.”

X nmr said nothing to that.

Joey checked the voodoo dolls. They still had the names on them, so he pressed a finger into Xnmr’s doll’s chest and watched Henry.

He started coughing. Joey took his finger off. “Why would you give me your real name?”

Once again, Xnmr didn’t answer.

Joey leaned closer. “With your real name, I can make you go along with any magic I want to do, you know.”

He was close enough to see saliva drip from Henry’s mouth. His tongue licked it from his lips. “Smells good. Gimme.”

“ _Y_ _aass!_ ”

H enry grabbed at Joey. Riiiiippp!

Joey got away, but not without his collar being torn by Henry’s fingers.  Loose thread tickled his hand when he felt for the damage.

Growling, Henry grabbed again, but Joey was out of range. He fell  _thunk_ onto the carpet.  When he pushed himself up, he met Joey’s eyes.

His were still blue.

  


Not much could make Henry’s mouth water faster than the warm scent of baking chocolate brownies.  A waft of it tickled his nostrils,  but he couldn’t find the goodies the first time he reached toward the smell. The second time, he fell off the couch and opened his eyes.

His stomach ached for those brownies.

When he sat up, he saw Joey sitting there,  shirt shredded at the collar .  Henry felt something soft in his hand and lifted it up to see it. Bits of white that matched Joey’s shirt were there, in his  _pointed? Clawed?_ Fingers.

He swallowed. “ Can I have some of that comfort food before you break the bad news?”

“Henry, is that you?”

“Yeah.” As he got to his feet, he got another noseful of the chocolate scent and realized the source. His stomach lurched. His hands flew to his mouth and touched down on clammy skin.

“Sit down. You’re shaking.”

W as he? Not that surprising, if his fellow human beings were treats to him now, even the live ones. He plopped down on the couch. “ I quit.” He clenched his fists and glared at them. What had his demon done now? “I’ve got to stay far away from people until you can figure out how to get this thing out of me.”

“ _Xnmr._ ”

I ce ran down Henry’s spine. His muscles tensed, and his neck turned against his will. He found his mouth opening. “ What?”

“ _K’ismukgl!_ ”

H enry stared at him. “Are you doing magic?”

He quickly regretted opening his mouth. It was watering again, so he hid it behind a hand.  He peeked at Joey.

Joey was gawking, brows raised, eyes wide, lips mouthing something that Henry couldn’t make out;  but he shut his mouth and nodded. “ I learned your demon’s true name. It’s  _Xnmr_ .”

That same shiver ran down Henry’s spine again.

Joey apologized. “ It’s that and the voodoo doll that has me so certain it’s the demon’s real name,  but most demons aren’t able to withstand requests after you speak their true name like that.  I don’t know what else to do to help you with him in the moment. ” He titled his head. “Can you still smell me, or is he just making your mouth water?”

Henry sniffed. Chocolate.  He clenched his eyes. “Is this going to happen every time  Hennereh finds someone he wants to eat?”

Joey’s lips were flat. His eyes were narrow.  “ You didn’t trip up on that name.”

“My dad had a nickname for all his children.” Henry put his face in his hands. “That was mine. Are you telling me he was never talking to me after all?”

T here was a beat. Henry wasn’t sure he wanted to know what that meant, but he peeked at Joey anyway.

He was green. “All of you?”

Henry nodded. “ Susie’s was Sus hiek , and Allison’s was A llie .  _Allie_ is normal enough, isn’t it? ”

“What was he planning?” But despite speaking, Joey was turning his chair and starting to wheel toward the kitchen.

Henry stared at his palms. They were red and sweaty, but his fingers were back to normal. Not that he could even guess how that worked.  W iping his palms, Henry called after  Joey , “Is it that bad?”

“I think I’ve got a bit of chocolate somewhere, leftover from last Halloween, but it should satisfy that demon for a half hour or so. Don’t try this too often.”

Joey disappeared behind the wall,  but this time, Henry got up and followed him. “ Why not? What’s it going to do?”

“There are a few human foods that make demons stronger. If you’re going to eat any, you’re going to have to make him a deal each time that will get him to leave you and everyone else alone, and I’m really going to have to think on how to do that.” Joey opened a cupboard, where a brown plastic wrapping was poking out from the top shelf. “Could you get that for me?”

H enry pulled it down, but what made him drool was, once again, getting too close to Joey.  He made himself swallow.

J oey was pulling out a mini-Hershey’s bar. He offered it to Henry.

The moment Henry  reached for it, Joey  closed his hand and yanked him closer to his mouth by his hair. Henry’s scalp protested.  _“Wiyuuem xe, xnmr? Xenrits!”_

“Owowow! What are you _doin’?_ Stop!”

J oey dug his fingers in deeper.  _“Xenrits! T’it’lxm swii xenrits, gakruuss.”_

He thrust Henry to the floor, where a shiver escaped him.

The chocolate was thrown onto the floor beside Henry, who popped it into his mouth.  It melted on top of his tongue, where it coated it thick, sweet, and – he reminded himself – guilt-free.  Henry opened the cupboard under the sink and flicked the wrapper into the trash  before he blinked at Joey.

He took a deep breath. The chocolate scent was still there, but it was faded to a tolerable level. “What was that about?”

J oey held out a hand for him. “It is you this time, isn’t it?”

“It was me last time you asked too.” Henry took the hand. “Really, what was that about?”

“Those nicknames.” Joey shook his head. “You pronounced the Demontongue the same way your demon did. I thought it had taken control, so I gave it some candy for you to have five-and-a-half days of freedom.”

H e crossed his arms and told himself to breathe, not to kill Joey for getting into magic  _again_ , and not to kill Joey for hinting at something strange about his dad. “I pronounced the names the same way my dad did, mostly.”

Joey rested a hand on his arm. “That’s the other thing. Why do you and the twins have names so similar to demon names? It’s like your dad was planning to seal specific demons inside you since before you were born.”

He what?

Henry knew that Joey gave him something to help him – a paper with some sort of writing on it. In English, not that demonic script hanging on his front door.  But he couldn’t really say what went on the rest of the visit.

His mind kept running back to his childhood, to all the times he thought his dad might have loved him and all the times his dad had done something odd.  Should he have known something earlier?

T he chocolate only lasted a bit. By the time Joey was showing him out the door, Henry’s nostrils were burning again.  The bus ride home was much worse – Henry was clinging to a pole to keep his hands off the temptuous feast around him.  His fingers dented the metal, and once after  he spoke to a man who apologized to him for bumping into him with a suitcase, the little girl with the man looked up at him and asked, “Daddy, why does that man have sharp teeth?”

H enry kept his mouth shut until he was safely in his apartment. He ran to the mirror and looked in his mouth.

Whatever the little girl saw, he didn’t see it.  He wished he could just dismiss it, even after the incident with the claws.  Instead, he ran his tongue over his teeth, trying to notice if any of them were extra sharp.

H e pushed the bathroom door. It slammed into the wall, leaving a mark where the knob was.

He’d have to deal with it later. “Only one thing to do: press on. Let’s see what it is Joey told you to do.”

So he went and got the paper Joey sent him home with and looked it over. It had a few words to speak to his demon, things like  _my body_ and  _not our soul_ . It listed foods to avoid and things to do to keep his demon weak and his own soul strong. The best option right now? To draw.

Henry got out his notebook and drew Bendy to late in the night.  Around one in the morning, the little devil started twitching, but that was because he was tired, right?

  


H enry’s next day of work was normal for once, if you didn’t count a small incident  where that rich guy with the fancy car came in to ask Joey to commission a cartoon, only for the ink in every pen in Joey’s office to suddenly run dry. He and Joey weren’t sure it wasn’t a normal mishap anyway.

When he got home, he was greeted with his personal sketchbook and lots of sketches of Bendy.  For a while, he was in a good mood.

And then his phone rang.

“Hello?”

On the other end of the line was a voice he thought he’d never hear again:  deep but nasally and slick as wet tar.  “Hello, Xnmr.”

There was that crawl on his spine again.  He growled. H e cracked the  phone’s casing  with his grip . “How did you get my number?”

“Friend of mine went to that studio of yours today.”

Was he talking about that rich guy? How did his dad end up friends with someone like him, anyway? Did he impress him with his magic? “Yeah?”

“He noticed you seem to be having some… _special…_ problems.”

“Oh, and of course you know about them!” Henry glared at an abandoned spiderweb on his window. “What do I do about the _demon_ you put inside me?”

“Just wanted to give you two bits of advice: 1) try speaking to control the magic-”

“I don’t speak Demontongue!”

T here was some chuckling on the other end, his dad’s distinctive  _ki-kik_ . “ You think I meant Demontongue? No, try English!”

I f he was being logical, English was worth a try. It was easier than trying to wrap his tongue around those consonants Joey gave him for some of his vocabulary items anyway.  He made himself loosen his grip before he destroyed his phone. He took a breath. “What do you want?”

“Look, I know I wasn’t as considerate of my family as all the other dads you saw as a child-”

Understatement of the year.

“-but there were always things I wanted for you. Your current magic situation was not one of them.”

H is fingers scratched through his pants pocket and into his leg. He flinched. “Then why did you seal Xnmr inside me?”

“I didn’t.”

H enry noised his disbelief. “ Then what did you do with Xnmr?”

“I planted a seed of greatness with him.”

He snorted.

“Do you want the magic accidents to stop happening or not?”

Of course he did, but even Joey was more trustworthy. Henry started pacing the three feet between his kitchen counter and the window, slowing once to swat the web down. “Did you happen to get-”

“That’s a yes.”

Henry scowled.

“Great! Point one I’ve already told you about. Point two, don’t correct anyone that your name is Xnmr when they call you Henry. In fact, keep going with Henry and never share your real name with anyone.”

He blinked. “My name is-”

“Course it is. My firstborn needed a fitting name.”

T he line went dead.  Henry threw the phone on the receiver. “My name is Xnmr?  _My_ name is Xnmr? Did you mean for the demon to eat your own son?”

H e went back to his sketchbook. “Alright, Bendy. Do what Joey says you will and help me keep my soul.”

  


He was so, so sleepy. His mind was fuzzy, but he felt someone – something? – stroke his arms. There was a voice too – deep and rhythmic.

Syllables tucked themselves around him like a baby’s blanket, but he didn’t know what they meant. He could hardly pick them out.

But there was one set that was slower than the others and spoken with warmth:  _Bendy_ . Was that him? Was he Bendy?

Bendy let himself fall back asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:
> 
> A demon dances.
> 
> Question of the week:
> 
> Why would Xnmr tell Joey his real name?


	8. In Which a Page is Missing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last time:
> 
> Joey and Henry learn that the demon’s name is Xnmr and take measures to keep it under control. Henry’s father calls him with some suggestions to help him with magic, but Henry is suspicious of his motives. As Henry is drawing Bendy to strengthen his own soul, Bendy gains awareness.

Henry was sick. Henry was nauseous. It was a side-effect of eating a human soul obviously, but did it have to flare up the moment he got to work?

 

Joey spent the next morning working Bendy into their upcoming movie. He gave him the role that was previously Edgar’s – a guide for Alice while she’s in hell. There was just a bit of trouble piecing things together – why would a demon like Bendy help an angel out of there?

Maybe he should get Henry to tell him anything he knew about Bendy’s backstory. He wheeled down the wide hallway, into the elevator, and through the animation cubicles, where he greeted Henry with a smile and checked up on his demon situation.

Other than a disturbing phone call from his brother-in-law, not much had happened, no. What was more worrying was the green tint to Henry’s face and the bags under his eyes.

Joey asked his questions, but he couldn’t go back to work. Not with the way Henry kept covering his nose. He put a hand on Henry’s arm. “Do you still smell it?”

“Yes.”

How? Joey used Xnmr’s real name and everything. He swallowed. “Work emergency. Obviously, we can’t put out a lot of episodes on VHS unless we have material to pull from. I’m going out to get ideas. Fables. Histories.” He paused. “Storybooks. Any ideas where to look?”

Henry closed his eyes. “It’s a big city.”

Maybe he’d have to stop by his apartment on the way back then. He turned his chair, but a strong hand wrapped around his wrist.

“I do have one idea: if it was important enough for my dad to steal in the first place, he might have gotten it back from the store.”

Joey smiled. “Great. How can I get in touch with your dad?”

But Henry didn’t know. All he could tell Joey was the name of the man Joey met briefly at his sister’s wedding, and whose name was promptly forgotten: Caesar Ross.

 

Henry had to go to the men’s room twice during the day to throw up, but he couldn’t afford a sick day now, could he? He threw himself into the ideas Joey left for him.

First, a VHS cover with a dancing Alice – and for a joke, he drew a dancing Bendy on a bit of scrap paper. Next, a full character drawing of his little demon to be introduced to the studio as a whole. Finally, some possible posters for advertising their VHS series.

Some were easy enough. One was mostly sun and clouds with Alice descending from the corner. Another was a deviation from one of his hellish backgrounds with Scratch laughing front and center.

Then some required a little more work.

There was one in particular that he had to keep redesigning to get a better picture of: a poster idea that Joey was using to get a better grasp on their latest character – _Bendy and the Alchemist’s Secret._ It didn’t help matters that he kept finding Bendy in positions he didn’t remember drawing. At one point, he leaned forward and tested his father’s advice about speaking English. Well, whispering in English. “If the demon possessing me made you, I want you to drop dead right now.”

Nothing happened.

He sat back. “I must be seeing things. Didn’t get enough sleep or something.”

Or so he kept telling himself.

 

Joey took a cab to the nearest shopping district, where his first stop was a tall phone booth off the side of the sidewalk. It was a squeeze to get in there with his chair, but he managed.

Now to find Caesar Ross.

He took the thick volume in his hands and flipped to the middle. The top of the page started with a number for a Piedmont, B. A spider crawled out from the far end of the phone booth.

He dropped the book, which flipped back several pages. Narrowing his eyes, he asked, “Are you one of those spiders?”

But the spider just crawled along. He flicked it off and turned his attention back to the phone book.

There was a page torn out of it, its remnants running jagged between the page ending with _Drake, S and C_ and _Durham, J.R._ He frowned. “D. r…. I really hope it wasn’t me someone was looking for.”

His stomach churned. Maybe he would check his apartment, even if Caesar had the book. In the meantime, he turned to the entry for _Ross, C_. and wrote the number down.

He dialed, but there was no answer. He supposed Caesar had to be at work at the moment.

Instead of checking the shops, he headed home. He examined the ward on his front door, but it hung there as undisturbed as ever. Same with the additional wards inside his apartment and around the Ink Machine.

Still, it was better to be safe than sorry.

To make another ward, he had a tip to follow from his old man – reinforce the refusal by mixing a drop of his own blood and a drop of his own tears with the ink he used to make the ward. He got out his calligraphy kit from his nightstand, poured a small amount of ink out, ready to use, and took it to the kitchen.

He collected his tears first by chopping up an onion and then wiping his eyes. Then he cut himself on the kitchen knife. He mixed up the ink and started writing.

_Tsae. Yasunskikuski skrum jowidruski._

Stop looking the Ink Machine and Joey Drew.

He bandaged himself up, and spent the rest of the day fruitlessly trying to track down _The Illusion of Humanity_. He didn’t try calling Caesar again until evening.

This time, Caesar answered. There was a strange sound on the other end of the line, somewhere between a growl and a purr. “To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?”

Joey’s skin crawled. “You’re a creep, you know that? No wonder my sister wasn’t happy about being married to you.”

“You’re that idiot’s son, correct?” Caesar started giggling. “I should thank you for giving my son a job, but there’s a riddle I can’t stop thinking of: I am just as stupid as my father, turn a blind eye to the public opinion of cartoons, and have all the magical skill of a dead fish. Who am I? I’m you!”

His grip tightened on the handle and it took all his discipline not to shout at Caesar.

When Caesar finally stopped laughing, he asked, “To what do I owe this call?”

“I’m only calling you for Henry’s sake.”

Caesar seemed unfazed by the venom in Joey’s voice. If anything, his tone was a little amused. “Henry deserves much better than you, _lnmya_.”

Lnmya? _Stupid summoner?_ Caesar was supposed to leave those sorts of names to the demons, wasn’t he? Unless he’d gotten himself possessed.

So if Joey shouted at the man, he was justified, wasn’t he?

Caesar cut in the moment Joey stopped for breath. “If you’re done, you were calling for Henry.”

Joey counted to three. Best get this over with. “We’re looking for a copy of _The Illusion of Humanity_.”

“Is this about his magic?”

He closed his eyes. Of course someone clever enough to seal a demon in each of his children would see through to what they were really after. It’s not that he particularly trusted Caesar, but if he’d cooperate…. “It’s about Xnmr.”

There was a growl on the other end. “How did you hear that name?”

Joey slammed a palm to his counter. “He is going to kill Henry. How do we control him?”

“Can I tell you something?”

Caesar volunteering information? That was suspicious, but Joey supposed he could use whatever he said, at least as something to disprove. “Okay?”

Caesar darkened his voice and switched to Demontongue. “There is no Henry.”

Joey spluttered.

But Caesar went on. “There was only ever a baby named Xnmr, not a baby named Henry….”

Joey held back some profanity. He knew where this was going: he’d given his okay to hear something from Caesar, and now Caesar was describing a state in the world. Next he was going to tell Joey to do something about it, and that was the formula for a level three spell involving the victim’s mental state. “I don’t agree to you telling me this sort of thing!” He hung up before Caesar could finish his spell.

Once he was calm enough that he was sure he wouldn’t yell at Henry too, he dialed Henry’s number. The line was busy.

 

Henry was cleaning out all the meat in his kitchen, not that he had much to begin with: a few cans of spam , some sardines, and a half-eaten package of hot dogs. As he did so, he was munching on a Joey-approved meal: beans, no pork, and a glass of cow’s milk.

He wished he could have that pork.

He was about to check the ingredients in his canned soups when the phone rang. He answered.

“I just had the strangest conversation with Joey Drew.”

It was his dad. Henry chucked some beef stew in the trash with more force than necessary. “Is there a reason you’re calling?”

“Joey Drew knows your true name.”

He wished he could throw his father in the trash can too. He made due by dropping another can of beef stew in there. “Do you have the book or not?”

“There wasn’t anything in there about you, but if you get Drew to forget your real name, I’ll give you a better book.”

Henry frowned. He must have been silent too long, because his dad followed up with a question about his magic. With a grumble in his voice, he said, “I tried speaking English to control it. I don’t know if it did anything or not.”

His father chuckled. “Give it a try right now then. Find something you want done and put some power behind it.”

Was it really okay to do that?

“It’s alright. It’s _your_ magic. If you’re not going to benefit from it, who is?”

“It’s Xnmr’s magic, isn’t it?”

“And you’re Xnmr. Why do you and Joey keep acting like there are two people inside you?”

Henry spluttered. He heard his father laughing as he tried to pull his thoughts together. What did his father mean _like_ there were two people inside him?

Eventually, he was able to get the words out of his mouth.

“I told you not to tell anyone your real name. Names have power. Yours was my gift to you.” His father’s tone softened. “It’s only you in that body. You, my special baby born with magic. Step up and enjoy it, and don’t let Joey Drew go spreading your name around. Make him forget.”

Once again, it was his father who hung up. Henry was left staring at the receiver. Even if any of what his father said could be trusted, why was he left with more questions than answers?

He had to call Joey.

Joey told him such a thing as being born with magic was impossible, but he did want him to come to his office the next morning. He did. He had to swallow down the scent of not just the brownies, but a baked chicken now as well, but he did.

Joey came around in front of his desk and had Henry himself stay where he was. The overhead lights shone down and gave his hair an almost holy glow, which Henry tore his eyes away from when the man looked up at him. “Do you trust me?”

He did. More than he trusted his father anyway, so he agreed.

“I think that English thing might be dead on. If it is, I’ll be bringing your demon in control of your body for a bit. It might be a bit scary, but I’ll have you back in control in a minute.”

Henry nodded.

Joey flattened his lips. “I’m modifying our deal a little, Xnmr: you’ll give Henry back once I’m done with you, but for now, show your true self.”

Unbidden, Henry’s mouth opened. “This is who I am.” Heart pounding, he twitched his fingers experimentally. They responded. He ran his thumb over his fingertips, but there were no claws. He ran his tongue over his teeth, but there were no fangs. “Joey, was my body supposed to change?”

He shook his head. “Never mind. It didn’t work.”

It didn’t work? But then why did Henry speak when Joey told him to show his true self? He watched Joey gather up some things and noted the disappointed look on his face.

Joey sent a smile his way. “We’ll get this dealt with. I promise. I’ll be looking for that book again today. Just get back to Bendy.”

That sounded good to Henry. Without so much as wishing Joey luck, Henry went to his desk. After glancing around to see that he wouldn’t be observed, he took out Bendy’s full character sketch, in which the little demon was hiding something behind his back. He whispered, “Dance for me, Bendy.”

He blinked. When he opened his eyes, Bendy had a white cane in his hand, and his feet were posed halfway through a tap routine. He grinned and got to work.

Just a few minutes later, he stumbled toward the nearest trash can, hand covering his mouth, and stomach pushing his breakfast up violently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:
> 
> Secret children.
> 
> Question of the week:
> 
> How does Caesar really feel about Henry?


	9. In Which Dreams Come to Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last time:
> 
> Henry’s sick, so Joey goes looking for The Illusion of Humanity with no success. Both of them are on the phone with Caesar Ross that evening.
> 
> CYI endings used: Chapter 233
> 
> Cheat path:
> 
> 1 Know you’ve got to turn on the Ink Machine in the other room  
> 2 Climb an elevator shaft  
> 3 Look for more messages  
> 4 See a message about living worthy of the chances you’re given  
> 5 Follow the link  
> 6 Growl  
> 7 Hand Henry the Seeing Tool  
> 8 Find a circle in the middle of the pentagram.

It wouldn’t last long, but it was becoming routine: Joey would get to the studio, check on production and dish out instructions, and head to his office to file things before he headed out in search of “source material.” It was the case that day too.

But that day, he paused to flip his wall calendar – the studio’s own version, one picture of a character for every month. It went from September’s hero-posed Woolly the Sheep to October’s Gutsy the Skeleton climbing from a coffin. As he did so, he caught sight of a day circled in blue – _Luther #3._

That’s right. If he wanted to send something in time for the kid’s – Emilio’s, supposedly, not his – if he wanted to send something in time for the kid’s birthday, he’d have to mail it no later than the next morning.

He didn’t have a gift. “She never told me – do you like picture books?”

The calendar couldn’t answer of course, especially not for his son, but Joey assumed a _yes_ when he went out to town that day. There were only two stores left in town for him to search before he had to switch to another approach, so surely he could pick up a book for his son while he was out and about?

The first was a pawn shop that left no space between its disorganized, overflowing shelves for Joey’s wheelchair. He had to call the shop owner over and ask if the book happened to have come through there, but the owner – a woman with tiny eyes and far too many beads around her neck – gave him a funny look, as though she knew what sort of person would be looking for _The Illusion of Humanity_. She claimed he was scaring off customers and told him to get out before she called the cops. The other was a used bookstore that smelled like old paper and pine needles.

Joey checked the non-fiction section first. It wasn’t there. He tried his luck in the fantasy section next. No stolen book there either, but there was an old copy of _The Tales of King Arthur_ there – simplified for children.

With a smile, he took the bent spine in his hand and examined the torn pages. Nothing a bit of scotch tape wouldn’t fix.

  
  


While Joey was out looking at books, Henry was sitting at his desk, head drooping lower throughout the day. He sketched out a shape that Joey showed him the other day, an alchemy symbol for his poster.

He blinked. Was it just him, or had Bendy’s eyes moved?

No, they were back where they belonged.

He didn’t have much time to think about it anyway because he had to run to the bathroom to puke again. It was always at work. Why was it always at work?

Or so he wished.

When he got home that day and got out the peanut butter for his sandwiches, the spread reminded him of mud in both color and smell. The first bite of his sandwich tasted like it too – mud, mixed with slime, ash, and way too much salt.

He spat it out, threw his sandwiches away, and went to bed hungry and shaky that night. He dreamed of a palace filled with crawling bits of steak that he snatched from the walls and from mid-air.

When he woke up the next morning, he there was a juicy, meaty taste in his mouth that had him smiling. Or at least until he got to the bathroom and found spider legs stuck between his teeth.

Swallowing, he leaned closer to the mirror. “Was that you, Xnmr?”

There was no answer.

“Great. Now I’ve got to tell Joey that my demon got up for a midnight snack without me knowing.” He reached for the floss, and a minute later, he had the spider legs out.

But there was one more thing to do. “Show me your fangs so I’m sure there’s nothing else.”

Nothing happened. At least not in his apartment, but with the way people were staring at him on the bus, he was sure something was showing.

The moment he arrived at the studio, he headed to the men’s room. His usual skin and teeth reflected back at him. And then, “Hello, Henry.”

He spun around. Lowering from a piece of silk was the biggest spider he’d ever seen – one with fuzzy brown legs and a red ring around its head. Could such a spider naturally exist?

He backed into the wall. “I’ve had enough with the talking spiders!”

“You are hungry, aren’t you?”

The spider landed on the grimy tiles and started walking toward him on unusually meaty legs. Why did it have to remind him of his dream last night?

“No.” But his stomach growled.

“An exchange: you tell me about that deal you made with Ruth, and I’ll let you eat this spider.”

Henry ran from the bathroom. “Joey!”

He slipped on the brown tiles and caught himself, left palm on the cold metal door frame. His stomach churned. He heaved into the trash can.

And then a headache – throbbing pressure as though on the inside of his skull. It felt as though the center of his brain was about to explode.

For a moment, he was back in Joey’s office the day Ruth showed up. He was trembling on the floor, and Ruth’s ghost was extending a hand toward him. “Let me explain it a different way: I’ll make you a meal if you take care of my killer.”

He supposed he did owe Ruth that much if his demon ate his soul. So squeezing the plastic liner in the can, he asked, “Why are you so interested in Ruth anyway?”

“I’m not. I want to know about the demon he summoned. Your father made some interesting claims.”

What was this? A chance to learn more of what his father was up to? No, Henry doubted a spider – or whoever was controlling it – was any more trustworthy than his old man. Maybe even less. “No deal.”

The lights cut out. A large, furry leg brushed Henry’s side.

He yelped. He felt for the door and pushed his way into the bright hall.

The spider squeezed through after him – it _squeezed_ through because it had grown to twice Henry’s size.

Henry ran.

Pincers dug into his ankle.

He hissed. He turned.

There – between the spider’s two sets of eyes – what was that? It was just a drop. The darker red didn’t even stand out much against the monster’s ring, but he smelt it. It smelled faintly like a cross of vinegar and sulfur.

He slashed at it. His claws raked across the spider’s face.

The spider released him, but it didn’t shrink back.

Henry wobbled to his feet. His feet threatened to give out under him, legs screaming as though the blood in his veins was delivering needles rather than oxygen.

His whole body felt that way. And he was hot. So hot.

But the spider was charging him again.

Henry grabbed its head and bit into its flesh.

The head popped off and the whole corpse shrunk to normal size, where it burnt to a crisp and scattered across the floor.

Henry was laughing even as the hall too went dark.

  
  


When Joey got back from his last unproductive day of local book-hunting, the Art Department’s gofer caught him in the entrance.

Buddy.

It was a wonder the kid didn’t stumble as he lanked over to him on those long legs of his. “Everyone’s been hoping you’d get back soon. It’s Henry. He passed out. We didn’t know what to do.”

What?

Joey demanded Buddy take him to Henry, so he followed him to the break room.

Henry was sitting there on a lime green couch, surrounded by hovering employees – Dave and Ritchie from the Art Department, Wally and Norman, and even Thomas Connor.

The last one made sense, actually – he was asking Wally something about a giant web causing maintenance issues.

When Joey rolled further into the room, he saw a large pile of bacon soup cans, the type that wouldn’t sell, lying empty on the floor. Another six were on the table, and Henry was gulping them down like shots. He reached for another one.

“Put that down!”

“Cut him some slack! The guy just passed out from low blood sugar or whatever earlier.”

Or so Wally said, but that started an argument: was it that Henry hadn’t been eating or that Henry had been bitten? Poisoned?

Henry put the can down, but only after he finished drinking. At least he had the good sense to look sheepish. “He just saved my life. I figured I owed him lunch. Was that bad?”

“Who?” Wally asked.

Joey shooed his other employees out of the break room with the promise of a bonus for their noble actions. When he was certain they were alone, he placed a hand on Henry’s shoulder. “What happened?”

Henry told him, and as he listened, he frowned. It was uncharacteristic of a demon to save a vessel they were sealed inside, so what was Xnmr thinking? “Be careful. Demons can be manipulative. He might have something up his sleeve he needs you for.”

If Xnmr wasn’t the one demon whose true name didn’t work on him, Joey would have demanded he spell it out directly. As it were, he could only examine Henry’s wound – or the ankle where it was supposed to be anyway. It was skin and scars. Old. Like they happened years ago.

He pressed a finger against it. “You were bitten today?”

Henry didn’t answer.

When Joey glanced at him, he found him green. He had little choice but to send Henry home for the day on the advice to stick to the demon starve-out plan.

He himself left the studio again – even if he couldn’t find _The Illusion of Humanity_ , there had to be another book to explain what was going on with Henry, right?

  
  


Henry forced himself to smile when Joey told him to stick to his diet. He knew Joey meant well, but he felt much better after the bacon soup. Calmer. More energetic.

Besides, he didn’t want to wake up and discover that Xnmr had eaten another nasty.

On the bus, he took the last seat in the back and checked his pocketbook to see how much he could spend on food before it would set him back in replacing his car.

He had enough for a pound of hamburger. If he ate bits of it over the week, maybe it would be enough.

His dinner that night consisted of charred toast and a slice of under-cooked meat. He sat at his table, a pen in his hand, and an empty lined page in front of him. “Okay, Xnmr, let’s talk. I don’t want to be involved with anything bad, but if you’re willing to help people, then let’s work together to make life good for the both of us. Tell me what you need.”

Silence.

The silence grew into a pause that made Henry feel stupid, as though he were truly talking to himself. He took another bite to fill the silence.

The meat and the toast mixed together into crunchy juicy goodness.

When he swallowed, Xnmr was still silent.

“Dad wasn’t telling the truth, was he? Is Xnmr my name?”

Again, Henry’s demon was silent, but he knew why – if he spoke in Joey’s office without transforming, but he could grow claws and everything…. “What do I call you?”

Nothing. The demon said nothing.

Henry needed a phone book. He borrowed one from his neighbors long enough to look up his dad’s number, then he went back to his own apartment to willingly call the man.

And he said the same thing he’d said the last couple times: _Xnmr_ was Henry’s true name – a gift from him, and the magic Henry was experiencing was his own. The moment Henry got off the phone, he sat at his empty plate. “Let’s go for two out of two.” He gathered the crumbs into a pile in the middle of his plate. “Become a steak for me.”

The crumbs did.

Magic. And maybe… no demonic consequences, despite what Joey said?

  
  


Once again, Joey changed his routine – sure he was still looking for books, but now he was checking on Henry first.

He found Henry humming and smiling at the poster he was working on. No trembling. No green face.

Still, he asked, “How are you feeling?”

“Better than I have in a while.” Henry accompanied his words with a grin, but the grin was full of sharp white fangs.

He gulped. “Who am I talking to?”

“Joey, it’s me. Why are you asking?”

He glanced around the room and leaned toward him. Couldn’t do to get people thinking the wrong thing about his nephew could it? “Check your teeth.”

Henry blinked. It was almost comical to watch – a pause, then his eyes went wide.

Blue. Still blue. The most telling transformation Joey had yet to observe.

“Teeth.” Henry paused again. Then he smiled with a full human set of pearly whites. “Better?”

Joey stared at him. He hadn’t found his voice by the time Henry flinched and swallowed something down.

It couldn’t be. “Do you mean the reason you’ve been sick is that you’ve been performing magic in my studio?”

“Come to think of it, I guess so. Someone has anyway.”

Demons? Sure, they were evil. They were to blame for a lot of things. But for someone summoning one in the first place? For doing magic in the first place? “You promised.”

“I’m sorry. Yeah, I’ve done some. Only trying to get it under control.” Henry’s tone was soft, and that face? Was it that he was telling the truth, or was he a lot better at playing innocent than Joey expected him to be? “Are you going to ask me to leave?”

That was the question, wasn’t it? What to do with him.

This wasn’t going to be easy, was it?

He gulped. “You’re my last living relation, but I….”

How to phrase this?

“Do you want me to stop?” Henry’s hand squeezed his shoulders. “I’m doing my best!”

It wasn’t what Joey wanted to ask. Well, it was, but not entirely. “We have the worst luck, don’t we? You, with a demon you can’t control, and me with… family, I guess you’d say. My absent mother, my distant sister, my formerly-bad example of a father, my tough-luck ex-fiancee, my creepy brother-in-law – no offense, and-”

“Ex-fiancee?”

His heart panged. He hadn’t meant to bring her up. She just slipped from his mouth. And now? Now, Henry was raising an eyebrow at him like he thought what? That his demon-summoning drove her off? That he went off the deep end in her absence?

Or maybe not, if he was into magic himself. Regardless, it was time to change the topic. “Her family split us up, but that’s not the point! The point is, I don’t _want_ to give up on you. Come to my office?”

He didn’t really, but he’d have to let someone down if Henry was doing magic: either Henry or his father. He curled his fingers around his armrest, silently begging not to have to make the choice.

  
  


Henry told the truth, but he didn’t think Joey believed him.

On the bright side, at least he wasn’t fired. Still, when he went back to his desk, he mumbled into his work, “I wish I could talk to someone who understands what I’m going through. Someone I know is good.”

He did try. He couldn’t practice magic when Joey was around, but was it so bad if it was just to increase his control over it? At home at least it wouldn’t make him as nauseous.

It seemed to work for a few days – only minor magic incidents that he hid from Joey – breaking pens and the like.

And then, one day, just after Joey checked up on him, he was focused on his work, moving his pen across the crisp paper with a _scratch, scratch, scratch_. He was almost done drawing a beaker spilling out on Bendy, in fact, when he saw movement from the corner of his eye: he knew for a fact that he hadn’t drawn Bendy looking up. He certainly didn’t draw a question mark popping into existence over his head.

Like those other drawings.

Henry fell out of his chair, letting out a yelp in the process. He felt sick, but he buried the feeling.

“Everything okay?” Joey called.

He swore to himself. No, Joey. Everything is not alright, but you can’t come back here to see it. Magic. Again. Because come to think of it, Henry drew Bendy a lot, and he spoke to him too. Dancing. Wishing for someone to confide in? What if that was what brought him to life?

Henry made himself smile to try to prevent his voice from shaking. “There was a spider.” He got to his feet. “Not a ‘cute’ one like _Edgar_ either. I got it.”

And now he was cursing his own stupidity. Spiders? Really?

But Joey didn’t come back. And Bendy? Bendy was looking up at him with big, wide eyes, biting down on his lip.

A part of him shivered. Creating life? He could do that?

He bent toward him, and his expression was starting to relax. He himself tried to relax by resting his fingers on the side of his desk. “Bendy?”

Bendy grinned, nodded, and mimed giving him a hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:
> 
> Nightmares.
> 
> Question of the week:
> 
> How long can Henry hide Bendy?


	10. In Which Shadows Wake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cheat Path:
> 
> 1 Know you’ve got to turn on the Ink Machine in the other room  
> 2 Climb an elevator shaft  
> 3 Look for more messages  
> 4 See a message about living worthy of the chances you’re given  
> 5 Follow the link  
> 6 Growl  
> 7 Hand Henry the Seeing Tool  
> 8 Find Greek numerals in the middle of the pentagram.
> 
> Last time:
> 
> Joey keeps looking for The Illusion of Humanity with no success (though he did find a picture book he bought as a birthday present), Henry eats spiders in his sleep and passes out later after being bitten by a giant demonic one, and Henry’s stance on magic becomes more relaxed than Joey’s.  
> Bendy comes to life.

As Henry set his chair back upright with the clacks and scrapes of wood-on-wood, his eyes kept drifting back to Bendy.

He had created life, hadn’t he? In some ways, that was good – at least it wasn’t another demon pretending to be something it wasn’t. He had enough of that with the spiders. In another way, what sort of unchecked power could create life? If this was his doing, he’d been extremely lucky with his accidents thus far, hadn’t he?

He pulled up a chair,  rambling to Bendy for something to do  with the nervous energy pressing against his ribs – he showed him another draft of the poster too.

B endy frowned and pointed to a symbol  on it: a circle with a triangle inside it, which itself had a square and a circle inside it.  It wasn’t demonic – Joey assured him of that – but it was real, in a way.

What was it he said? Something about alchemy? That sounded about right.

He supposed the question was: what was Bendy’s interest in it?

He peered at him, and Bendy didn’t seem to notice he was doing so: his black, pie-cut eyes were still pointed toward the symbol on the poster. He put his glove behind his head, where he started scratching at his fur, and on occasion, he blinked.

The question mark was back, and more of its kind were joining it.

Henry picked up his pen and ran its nib over Bendy’s horns. Bendy started giggling into his hands, not that there was any sound, just the motion: big grin, moving hands, body shaking from his chest. When Henry stopped, Bendy grinned up at him.

Bendy was just confused, wasn’t he? Looking for an explanation of how he came to life – Henry was still looking for one himself. He flipped his pen over and rubbed Bendy’s cheek. “It’s really you.”

He bit back a laugh and glanced around the animation room. Everyone was hunched over their own work – everyone but Buddy, who must have been out running some errand or other. So he got out a fresh sheet for his work and whispered, “My Bendy. You are a demon, aren’t you? That’s why you started dancing when I used your name the other day. You’re name’s already out though. It’s going to be a bit harder to keep you safe.”

Bendy was harmless – or at least he hoped he was – but Joey wouldn’t see it that way, would he? Not with him actually moving around now.

“Do you want to make a deal?”

Bendy tilted his head.

And it was then Henry realized he didn’t know the details of how to do it – sure he’d deals with Joey and Ruth before, but were those deals because it was an agreement with someone who had magic? Or was there more to it, like that Demontongue?

He asked about that second part, but Bendy just shrugged.

Right. How would such a new life form know anyway?

He risked another glance around. Buddy was walking in with a folder he delivered to the Head Animator. Once Buddy was seated under the pipes, Henry looked back down. “Demons have magic, kiddo. And humans like to make deals with them, but they’re never good deals.”

Bendy backed away from all the alchemy symbols on the poster he was drawn on. The poor kid wasn’t going to like what Henry needed to say to him, was he?

Henry tickled Bendy’s chest with his pen, making sure there was a smile on his face when Bendy got his breath back. “It’s okay. You and I will make a good deal.”

Bendy smiled back.

“I suppose it’s that people expect demons to be evil, but I don’t. Not from you.” Henry told him a bit about his demon too – neither he nor Joey believed his dad when he said there were no demons in him – Henry couldn’t after all the claws and fangs – but he didn’t see much of the things Joey was scared of with his demon either. He even saved his life.

Bendy pulled himself up on a white-topped counter and dangled his legs as he listened to Henry.

“I will do everything in my power to protect you, but I need you to prove everyone wrong when they assume you’re evil. Deal?”

Bendy extended a hand toward Henry, but only in its changing proportions on the paper. He stopped, withdrew his hand, and hung his head.

“No, it’s okay.” Henry set his fingers on the paper, just on the edge of Bendy’s arm. “Is this hurting you?”

Bendy shook his head.

“Then touch your hand to mine and we can seal that deal.”

With a grin, Bendy did.

When Henry looked up, Buddy was staring at him. How long had he been watching?

Henry put on a smile, but his heart was pounding. “Don’t mind me. You’ve seen artists have all kinds of quirks? I guess this is one of mine – talking to my characters as I get them fully developed.”

“It’s not that – I was just thinking of something Dot told me the other day.”

But Buddy was still staring. At least it wasn’t Bendy he was staring at – it was something just over Henry’s head. Henry glanced behind him, but there was just a wall with an Alice Angel poster on it.

It hadn’t moved, had it?

Buddy was getting out of his seat, so Henry covered Bendy with a hand. “Sorry,” he whispered. “ _Hide.”_

Buddy’s footsteps sounded on the floor. Then he yelped – the pipe by his seat had burst, and Buddy was being sprayed. But inside the pipe? It wasn’t water. It was thick black smelly ink.

Bendy was abandoned for a moment as Henry ran to help the other animators find the shut-off valve. As the last of Henry’s coworkers passed his desk, he had a moment of panic – what if one of them saw Bendy?

Then the fire sprinklers went off as well, spraying, like the pipe, ink everywhere.

Henry slipped and splashed on the floor.

By the time they got everything turned off, there was a puddle an inch deep on the floor, and the department wore more ink than usual. Buddy was a black smudge with flesh-colored spots, and Henry himself had something cold and sticky in place of his clothes.

Henry peeled his formerly-gray polo away from his skin. No more cotton – just ink. He gulped. “Buddy, go get Wally and Joey.”

He did, and the head animator ordered the rest of them to check their work for damage. Only the papers on Henry’s desk were free from unwanted stains, but that didn’t stop Bendy from hiding behind the bogus episode name, one hand and the back of his head sticking out from behind a capital _L_ and shaking.

Henry put a finger on Bendy’s hand. “Looks like I’m going to have to be careful about talking to you at work if I want to keep you safe.”

Bendy moved his hand. He crawled over the leg of the _L_ and sniffed up at him.

“Tell you what. I’ll take you home with me after work and talk to you there. But here, you stay hidden. I’ll draw you as many things to keep you entertained as you want. Just understand what I’m worried about.”

Bendy nodded and held up his hand. He pressed it forward, and it flattened, as though being pressed against glass.

Henry touched his hand to Bendy’s just before the nausea hit.

  
  


Joey wanted to believe Henry was trying, but Buddy telling him that there was magic in the studio once again? Another incident involving ink and the animation department at that. What was he supposed to think?

Then again, when he got to the animation department, Henry was one of the victims this time. Who would want to use magic to turn their clothes into ink?

He stopped by Henry’s desk. “Nothing more from your father about the book?”

Henry shook his head. “He still won’t answer that question.”

Ridiculous. “That’s strange. Aren’t you involved in whatever he wants? If it’s really for your benefit, he’d tell you.” Joey watched for any tell. He got one – Henry’s shoulders tensing – but he wasn’t sure how to interpret it.

Henry slid an aborted poster attempt under another one. He collected all his papers rather than answering Joey.

Great. Joey wrapped his fingers around the flat arm of Henry’s chair and leaned in. “You can tell me. I can’t help you unless you do.”

“I’ve told you everything. I don’t think repeating it’s going to make any difference.” Though Henry spoke gently, his eyes weren’t on Joey. It wasn’t too surprising though, the way his eyes were glued to the figure he was drawing – a version of Bendy that was bowing to Alice, a rose in his hand.

He handed Joey the finished product. “Here, I’ve got a grip on Bendy and why he’d help Alice out of hell – he’s not fully grown. He doesn’t have the years of hatred for humans or angels that all the adult demons have – just an itch for mischief at most. What he does have is his first crush, and it’s on Alice.” And he fixed him a smile. “There’s hope for a character like that to be on the side of good permanently, isn’t there?”

Was this about Xnmr?

So though Joey nodded his approval for Henry’s sketch, his thoughts were far from the little devil. “Demons are tricksters. All the other good characters are going to be suspicious of him, and they’re not wrong for doing so. There’s never been such a thing as a good demon before.”

Henry took out another sheet of paper. “Right. What’s the next step in this project?”

“An actual poster. Call it ‘Alice in Hell’s Angels.’ Put Alice and Scratch on it. Play around with having Bendy on it or not.” Joey lowered his voice.

This next part? He didn’t think it was going to work, but if his suspicion was right and Xnmr was gaining Henry’s trust, he didn’t have time to figure things out. It was worth a shot. He grabbed Henry’s shoulder and whispered requests in his ear – one set for each language: “ _Snduts, Xnmr!_ _U_ _gaemx,_ _u_ _gaguts._ Tell me who and what you are, Xnmr!”

Henry straightened. “I’m an artist. The son of your foster sister. I don’t know what this makes me, but _Xnmr_ is _my_ name – _not_ my demon’s.” Taking Joey’s hand from his shoulder, he added, “I hate it when you use that name.”

In a way, that made sense, but otherwise, it was impossible, or nearly so. “Henry, do you know how rare it is for a human being to know the name of their own soul? There are hardly any ways to find out.”

“But there are ways?”

Joey shuddered. He’d only heard stories, but the stories he’d heard were so vivid that he could smell sulfur and see blood stains whenever he thought about them. “Usually fatal.” He felt sick. “He might have done it though. It doesn’t really help us with your demon.”

“What does it help with?”

Joey didn’t know what the advantage was of a human knowing their own name. But for a demon to know a human’s true name…. He grabbed Henry’s shoulder again and dug his fingers in. “Emergencies. I’m sorry to use your true name, but you have to stop using magic at once, Xnmr. Do not let your demon take control!”

He had to leave after that – he needed that book, and he was out of time to get it. First stop: his apartment, to see if he could jog anything in his father’s memory.

But while he was explaining things, he was met with, “You mean you allowed him to keep using magic?”

Really, what else was he supposed to do while he still had some doubts about Henry’s magic?

  
  


Bendy was taken to Henry’s apartment after work, just like Henry promised. There, Henry told him stories about his life, taught him a few games, and drew a bed that he taped on Bendy’s poster.

He climbed on and tested it out: soft, warm, and bouncy. He enjoyed that last part until Henry told him to cut it out – he was going to cut himself on broken glass if his horn hit the beaker again.

Supposing Henry had a point, Bendy grabbed his bed and dragged it across the poster. He looked up before he jumped again and saw nothing but the paper’s edge to hit.

Eventually, Bendy agreed to lie in bed with a fluffy teddy bear and listen to a few songs sung breathlessly off-key. He snickered at Henry’s lack of musical talent, but the words were fun. His favorite was one about a black sheep’s wool – it reminded him of Woolly.

Before Bendy knew it, he was asleep.

He was back in the studio with his dad, but it was dark and he was free – 3D, just like Henry – not confined to a piece of paper. They were with a stranger, standing in front of a wall. On the wall, there was a glowing yellow pentagram, and in its middle, some strange writing.

When Bendy touched it, the pentagram lit up. He and his dad backed away, and the stranger ran off.

Large and red, a demon stepped through. The glint in his eyes and the blood on his teeth scared Bendy, so he clung to his dad.

His dad pushed him away. “Run.”

But Bendy couldn’t. It was as though his body were made of frozen ice rather than liquid ink.

And his body started floating. Slowly, it’s turned to face the other demon, who met Bendy’s eyes first, and then Henry’s.

The demon started laughing. “How _pathetic!_ There’s an inky excuse for a demon – not even a proper Toon either – and an animator who could have been so much more! In fact, he is, in other dimensions: willing to turn himself into a demon to make his art more lively. If you’re not going to be proper demons, you could at least entertain me.”

Henry protested, but the demon snapped his fingers. “You’ve got potential!”

Henry morphs. His skin reddened and bubbled until it was covered in lava-spitting boils. Horns curled out of his head. Snarling, he turned two empty eyes on Bendy.

The scene changed around Bendy – he was aware of it, but it was a blur. How could it be anything else when the new demon who was supposed to be his father was rushing him, claws going straight for his throat?

He woke up and fell out of his bed. He screamed, but no sound came from his throat. He was still on the kitchen table where Henry left him, and he was alone.

He needed to get Henry’s attention, but how?

Bendy tried pushing against the edge of the paper, but that just wore him down. He tried smashing the things in the lab, but they made no noise when they broke and scattered across the tiles. He could only stand there until Henry wandered back in, dressed in fuzzy blue pajamas and sporting the same horns from in Bendy’s dream.

Bendy pointed at them.

“What are you doing out of bed?”

Behind Henry, the shadows shifted. Forget the horns – what was with the shadow opening its eyes?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Question of the week:
> 
> Which demon is responsible for the shadow behind Henry?
> 
> Next time:
> 
> The Illusion of Humanity


	11. In Which a Man Can Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Disturbing.
> 
> Last time:
> 
> Henry makes some deals with Bendy and worries about Bendy being discovered by his coworkers. The animation department then has an inky accident.
> 
> Joey discovers that while, yes, there is something demonic about Henry, Xnmr isn’t the demon’s true name – it’s Henry’s.
> 
> When Henry takes Bendy home for the night, Bendy has a nightmare about Henry turning into a demon, and when he sees Henry again, Henry has horns and there’s a shadow opening its eyes behind him.

Henry turned around, but there was nothing there to point at but his own shadow. His shadow shouldn’t have horns.

He reached a hand to them. They were short, but they were sharp. “Not more new body parts! ”

Something hit his knee.

He caught himself on the wall. There was a soft scrape.

He pushed himself up. He balled his fists. His claws drew blood. “ Who’s there? I know you’re here.”

The kitchen was empty. It was quiet enough that Henry could hear the buzz of wires and his own blood pounding in his ears. He sniffed and s melled only the remnants of the pork-and-beans he made for dinner.

“Have you seen anyone, Bendy?”

Bendy’s hand poked out behind a letter and pointed toward the fridge.

It fell on Henry. The drawer opened and dropped a rotten tomato on his stomach. Its slime s oaked through his shirt.

Henry shoved the fridge.

There was a shadow behind it. It grinned. Its mouth opened. It spewed spiders .

Henry stomped on the spiders. They didn’t squish, but they grew instead. Each was the size of a kitten, trailing a thick strand of silk behind itself. They were working together to make a nest-like web.

He grabbed Bendy’s paper off the table. “Don’t worry. I’ll get us out of here.”

His phone was ringing, but he didn’t have time to worry about it with all the spiders in here. They were building a web from the floor up, which was currently about the height of a chair bottom.

He should be able to leap it. He fixed his eyes on the door, ran toward the web, lifted a foot over, and tripped a trap. He twisted and struggled, but he only managed to get himself more stuck. He growled.

Magic. It was the only way out. He knew what he wanted to say, but his lips were stuck.

He took a breath. When he tried to speak, his lips were stone.

He closed his eyes. When he tried to speak, his voice froze up.

He balled his fists. “Break!”

The web didn’t, so he twisted until it broke. He dropped right into another bit of web.

  
  


Joey took the bus to a few blocks away from Caesar’s neighborhood and arrived on his street around sunset. It looked too normal for a creep to live there – it had maintained sidewalks, well-kept green lawns, sedans parked in the driveways. There were even children out playing catch with a regulation baseball.

All he needed to do was find which house was his ex-brother-in-law’s. Well, that and convince him to part with the book.

Sometimes the house numbers were painted on the sidewalks or on the mailboxes, but most houses in the neighborhood had their numbers mounted in lamp-lit metal near the front door. Joey could tell Caesar’s was somewhere on his right-hand side, but the house numbers jumped from _11664_ to _11688_ without Caesar’s house between them. He wheeled up and down the street until the baseball struck him in the chest.

As he was rubbing where it hit, the neighborhood kids ran up to him. He took the chance to ask where 11666 was.

The kids backed away, keeping their eyes on him as they whispered to each other.

Joey leaned on his armrest. “It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s got a reputation here, but he stole something and I need it back. That’s all.”

One of the kids, a boy with a beak-like nose, asked, “Are you a magician?”

In a sense, he supposed he was, but it’s not like he had to admit to that after giving magic up. “I have the misfortune of having had the jerk as a brother-in-law.”

“But Emperor Psycho isn’t married!” another kid said.

The boy with the nose planted his elbow in his ribs. “If he only used to have him as a brother-in-law, it means he’s not married anymore, stupid!”

Joey tapped his fingers against the plastic armrest cover. “His house?”

Nose boy pointed to 11664. “Ring the top bell if you want the weirdo. Otherwise, you’ll get his weird basement-dwellers instead.”

Basement-dwellers? Joey couldn’t see Caesar as the type to let anyone live with him out of the goodness of his heart. He asked the kids about it.

“He rents it out cheap to college drop-outs who like goats and skulls and stuff. He says it gets him friends like Emilio Capitani.”

Emilio? Just great. Don’t tell him Caesar had anything to do with him losing Erica to him.

To make matters worse? The boy was looking up and down the street as he said this, as though he expected Emilio to drop by.

His friend was doing the same thing too. “I just remembered,” he said, “I’m hungry. I’ve gotta get home for dinner.”

“Yeah,” nose boy said, “me too.”

The kids ran off, leaving Joey alone in front of Caesar’s house. They were right – it was number 11666 – there was a gray number next to the top doorbell, hard to see against the house’s black bricks.

He rang.

When Caesar opened the door, he grabbed Joey’s collar and lifted him from his chair. “What did you do with my son?”

Joey swallowed. “I haven’t done anything with Henry. I’m just here for the book.”

His back hit the doorpost. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t kill you.”

“Whatever you’re planning, you need Henry’s trust for it, don’t you? How do you think it would look if you killed me while I’m trying to help him?”

“I don’t need his trust.” Caesar leaned in, running a claw over Joey’s throat. He switched to Demontongue, which he spoke fluently, although with a dialect almost as funny as Xnmr’s attempts to pronounce his own name. “Where is my child? Tell me, or I’ll take the knowledge directly from your soul.”

Almost certainly possessed.

Please, Henry, forgive him. “I’ll make that deal if you don’t kill me.”

Caesar did nothing, so Joey mustered his courage to ask something more, “While I’ve got you here, what do you want in exchange for the book?”

He showed Joey a mouthful of fangs. “The book?” He ki-kikked. “You’ve never completed a deal with me. Why am I supposed to trust you with something like that?”

Joey pointed at his wheelchair. “I’ll honor our deal! I’ll take you to him right now!”

He did. He had to.

When they arrived, he knocked, but Henry didn’t answer. Caesar growled and tore the door from its hinges. Bits of web clung to it.

There wasn’t a spot in the apartment free from web, but somewhere inside had to be a pool of sweat – even from the door, it reeked. “Henry?”

There came a muffled cry from a thick bundle of silk on the floor.

Caesar ran toward it. A shadow lashed out and knocked him into the webs himself, but he spun in the silk, slicing through with his claws. “Why, if it isn’t _Ibta_! Who was it that beat me to taking your soul?”

Joey pushed himself onto the net of webs and turned his wheels. He wasn’t stuck. “Hang in there! I’m coming!”

His chair flipped over. He landed near the kitchen sink. His chair landed on him.

Caesar crashed into a wall. He growled. “I need a doll!”

“I doubt he has one.” Joey yanked a drawer open. Measuring cups. Measuring spoons. Nothing to cut Henry out with.

Next drawer. Paper bags. Food containers. Napkins.

The table pinned him.

“What’s this?” Caesar picked something off the floor. He laughed. “Henry, I like your style!”

Henry shouted something.

Joey squirmed. “Unpin me. I’m trying to find something to cut him loose with.”

A spider crawled over the table. Joey spotted a drop of blood on its fuzzy head. He pushed with his hands to put as much space as possible between him and it, but there wasn’t far to go until he was pressed against the sink cupboard.

The table pressed into him too. Caesar’s doing.

Joey glared at him. “Let me go!”

Caesar leaned against the table. He reached down and swept up the spider. “You’ll have to tell me if you’ve eaten any of this kind, Henry.”

And yet Caesar was making no move to free Henry. What sort of supposedly-worried father was he?

Joey tensed. “Are you stupid? We’ve got to cut him free before he can answer any questions. Let me go and I can keep looking for something to do that with!”

The shadow fell on the table. It opened its mouth and out came a fresh batch of spiders. They crawled between Joey’s shirt buttons and started their webs on his skin.

He swatted at them. His chest stung anywhere it was slapped. The spiders scattered. Some crawled from his collar. Others from his sleeves. Still others out over his pants. They trailed their web behind them.

He smashed some.

Caesar pressed a squashed spider into the table. “Take a good look at what you caused, _lnmya._ ”

“It wasn’t me!”

“It’s that demon you summoned. Did you think you vanished her?” He ran a claw up Joey’s throat.

Joey didn’t feel any liquid, but the claw was cold and it scraped his skin. Caesar’s finger stopped on his jugular, and Joey was certain he could feel his heart pounding. “You can’t kill me – we had a deal!”

Caesar grinned. “I only agreed not to kill you.”

His rancid breath forced itself in Joey’s nose. He sneezed.

The pressure from the table loosened up. “If you find me a pen, I’ll let you out from here.”

Joey agreed. He checked the upper drawers until he had both a pair of scissors and a pen.

Caesar was wrestling a spider.

Joey rapped it on the blood spot with his scissors. It shrieked and scuttled off. “You owe me for that.”

Snatching the pen, Caesar said, “I could have taken it myself. I owe you nothing.”

Caesar started drawing with the pen, mumbling to the paper.

While he was busy, Joey army-crawled his way to Henry. He bopped several spiders on his way, but he reached the large, smelly lump he was trapped in. The cocoon must have been an inch thick, obscuring the details of Henry’s body and face – but not the fact that he had horns.

The stupid demon must be taking control, but Joey had to wait to worry about that. He was surprised Henry hadn’t already suffocated with all the silk over his mouth and nose.

He started there. He peeled off a layer of web, revealing red skin, red like a strawberry, not just reddened.

Henry gulped in the air. His teeth were fangs, and his tongue was forked.

Was this him, or was there anything left of him left to save?

Joey grabbed his shoulders. “If there’s anything left of you, X-”

He was kicked. The air was knocked out of his lungs. “No true names while Ibta’s still here.”

“Sorry.” Joey went back to peeling off chunks of web. There was a nose there. Thick eyebrows. Two eyes, closed.

He knocked a spider aside and slapped Henry’s cheeks. “Hey, wake up. Are you alright?”

The eyes opened. They were still a humanly blue. “Joey, I don’t feel well.”

Caesar laughed. “Got them. Now!”

The room brightened. The spiders keeled over, just stunned, if Joey had to guess.

Henry squinted against the sudden light until a shadow covered his face.

It was Caesar’s. He stood tall above them, skin and suit web-free, seven spiders riding his arms. He raised a foot and pinned Joey to the ground.

“That’s low, even for you!” Henry said.

Caesar pressed his foot deeper into Joey’s chest. “Is it? Tell me, why didn’t you use your magic to escape the spiders?”

Henry told him he couldn’t, and Caesar dug his heel into Joey in response. “Your doing?”

He supposed it was. It’s not that he regretted getting Henry to stop using something so dangerous, but come to think of it, perhaps he should have given him more safeguards against external threats as well.

Caesar glared down at him. “Repeat after me: Xnmr, I hereby release you from all conditions I made through your true name and permit you to use your magic free of consequences.”

Joey repeated the words. His father would understand if he said them under duress, right?

“That feels so much better. Let go of me, stupid web!” Henry sat up, peeling the last of the web off himself. “Now let him go.”

Caesar threw Henry away. Thud. “He summoned a demon and ran, Xnmr. You can’t go around trusting people who try to pay others to perform magic they can’t perform for themselves and then back out of their end of the bargain.”

“That’s not-”

Caesar crushed his ribs. The fire in his chest shut him up.

But Henry was snorting anyway. “Oh, and I’m supposed to trust people who throw me into walls? Let him go.”

“He got you your job, didn’t he? You don’t need him for anything else.”

“That’s not true, and that’s beside the point.” Henry came up to Caesar and shoved him in the chest.

Caesar held still. He shoved him back. Henry fell. “Sit there until I tell you you can get up, Xnmr.”

“You can ignore him, X-” Joey tasted all the earth and rubber at the bottom of Caesar’s boot.

“Please let him go.”

Caesar bent, driving his boot further into Joey’s mouth. It scraped the roof of his mouth and made his jaw ache. He could only make grunts in protest. “I brought you into the world because you’re good for my goals, but I suppose that human saying applies: I love you.”

Puke joined the taste of boot.

Henry must have been having a similar reaction, because Caesar said, “Don’t look at me like that – there are some of my kind capable of such a thing, believe it or not.”

“Your kind? And what’s that? Sickos?”

Joey’s cheek smashed against the floor.

“ _Lnmya_ probably knows, but I don’t want to spell it out in front of him. Unless you’ll kill him for me?”

Was he talking to Henry or Henry’s demon? Joey grabbed Caesar’s ankle. Henry Caesar wouldn’t be able to persuade, but the demon? He’d be killed, and Henry would be haunted by it the rest of his existence. Joey shoved with both hands, but Caesar’s boot stayed in his mouth.

Henry was saying something, but Joey didn’t catch what.

“I had to make him a deal to come rescue you.” Caesar turned Joey’s head. “Look at his face. This is the face of the man that summoned the demon who set the spider-spewing shade on you. I made you because you’re good for my goals, which of course means there are things I want for you. A cowardly summoner putting you in danger is not one of them.”

Henry leaned closer to Joey’s face. “Is it true? Is the demon after me the one you summoned?”

Even if Joey knew, he couldn’t speak around rubber. He shrugged.

Making fists against the ground, Henry looked up. “Even if it was, he didn’t know. He’s trying his best to fix it. He’s the one who’s been protecting me while you’ve been busy being useless, so let him go. I need him.”

“I’ll protect you if you let me.”

“You? Ha!” Henry straightened. “You did so well at protecting Susie and Allison. I don’t believe for one second that you’re capable of looking after anyone but yourself.”

“I’ve been more help with your magic than he has, haven’t I?”

Help with Henry’s magic? Help Henry lose his soul, more like. If Joey’s tongue was free, it would be very nasty things coming from his mouth, not just angry noise.

Caesar withdrew his foot and kicked Joey in the jaw. “One more sound from you and I swear I’ll pull your tongue out with my bare hands!”

Joey spat out a molar. He pushed himself onto his hands, but his ribs throbbed. He lay himself back down.

Henry reached toward him, but Caesar yanked him up and away by the hair at the back of his head. He gritted his teeth to stop himself from crying out.

“He’s used your true name against you, Xnmr. He’s proven he’s a threat to you. What are you going to do about him?”

There was a pause. Joey took advantage of it by mouthing to Henry, ‘He’s a demon.’

If Henry saw, either he didn’t understand or he didn’t care. “You promised me a book if I make him forget my true name. If I make him forget it, he can’t use it against me again, can he?”

“The demon he summoned will still be running around.”

“He was trying to protect me!”

Caesar knelt and lifted Henry’s chin. “Tell me everyone’s who been using your true name, Xnmr.”

“You and Joey are it.”

Caesar sent a sneer over his shoulder. “Lucky you, _Lnmya._ It seems there’s a use for you. Will you let Xnmr erase his true name from his mind? Just one word. Speak.”

If Caesar ever requested permission for one reasonable spell, this was it, so Joey agreed.

Henry apologized to him anyway. He requested instructions from Caesar on how to remove the name from his mind, and with each step, he glanced at Joey, presumably looking for confirmation.

Caesar gave him the instructions correctly, so Joey just nodded along. He got through most of the spell without issue, but before the last bit, he stopped and bit down on his lip instead.

Joey put a hand on his shoulder. His ribs flared, and he winced.

“You’re in really-”

‘Spell,’ Joey mouthed.

“Right.” Henry gulped. He closed his eyes for a moment, but when he opened them again, there was a light in them, and a smile on his lips, which parted, as though to thank Joey. “To most people, I’m still just Henry Stein. To you, let me be just Henry Stein again.”

It was an odd feeling, to forget: Joey knew something had happened – when he thought about Henry’s real name, nothing came to mind – but it felt as though nothing had changed at all.

“That’s one less danger from him.” Caesar dragged him to the side of Henry’s chair. The trip was less than a minute, but it burned.

Henry put a knee under himself, pushed himself onto his hands, and promptly fell into a sitting position. He cursed softly. “Dad, haven’t you hurt him enough?”

“He’ll live, but I need a way to keep him docile.” Caesar squatted in front of Joey and grinned at the spiders on his sleeves. “Less deadly forms. All of you.”

The spiders changed from the brown fuzzy ones to the strange black ones that had been stalking Henry.

Caesar grinned. “Do you want to know why I saved these seven spiders?”

Joey didn’t want to know what Caesar had in mind, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the spiders either. No wonder he couldn’t recognize the species – they weren’t a type that occurred on Earth naturally, were they?

“You can make noise now. In fact, I command you to answer.”

“I-”

Caesar shoved a spider in Joey’s mouth. It muffled his screams. Its many legs tickled his tongue and throat as it scurried further inside him. “One.”

Joey coughed, but the spider wouldn’t come out.

Caesar held two more spiders. “Two. Three.”

Joey covered his face, but the spiders brushed under his fingers and up his nostrils, pressing harder against the insides as they grew. When they reached his throat, they filled it so there was hardly any air left, and their feet were still running.

Henry was shouting for Caesar to stop.

“Four. Five.”

The spiders worked their way through Joey’s ears. The outside world was muffled, but the _pitter-patter_ of the hairy legs against his sensitive canals was louder than it had any right to be.

Caesar put two more in Joey’s mouth. “Six and seven.”

Joey gagged on the spiders in his throat as he tried to scream. He could still feel them as the first reached his stomach, tickling his insides. His mind went hazy as one reached his brain.

The last spiders settled inside him.

Joey spit up a bit of web.

“Do you want it to stop?”

He knew he shouldn’t agree, but this wasn’t bearable. “Yes.”

“Then change!”

His body was melting. He opened his mouth and screamed. Extra limbs burst from his side. His mouth changed, cutting off his scream. A giant hand was moving toward him.

The last bits of his mind registered that it was Caesar’s. He limped toward Henry instead.

A red hand was placed in front of him, and Joey let himself up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:
> 
> Dinner with a devil.
> 
> Question of the week:
> 
> If you were turned into an animal, what animal would you least want to be?


	12. In Which Caesar Visits the Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last time:
> 
> Henry looks even more demonic by the time he’s captured by the spiders. Caesar and Joey come to his rescue, but the moment he’s safe, Caesar has Henry erase his true name from Joey’s mind. Caesar then turns Joey into a spider.

The soft legs tickled Henry's fingers  and palm . "Joey, be human again!"

Nothing happened except his dad started laughing at him. This was all his fault. Henry was aware his hands were shaking, but he was surprised when he opened his mouth and a deep, layered voice came out. "Change him back now."

His dad laughed harder. He rolled back on the floor and turned his head toward Bendy’s paper. " _ Change him back now, _ he says."

Henry reached for the paper.

Caesar held it above his head. "What a strange golem you've got here. What did you mean it to do?"

"Give him to me."

"I get it - you care more readily than I do, but is that any reason to use that tone with me, Xnmr?"

Henry lunged forward, smashed into an invisible wall, and fell back into a sitting position.  Joey ran from his palm, over the back of his hand, and up his arm,  so he put his free hand in front of him. “Easy there.  I’ve got you.”

Caesar  clicked his tongue . “ If he hadn’t summoned  Wulisae in the first place, she wouldn’t be after you .”

H e knew it was a possibility, but at least Joey didn’t think torture or turning people into spiders was an acceptable punishment. At least, not that he could picture from him. “ If he asked you how to send a demon back to hell, what would you tell him?”

“ To  take her there himself.”  Caesar crossed his arms. “ But c learly,  he doesn’t regret summoning her enough to do anything about it.”

H enry used a hand to shield Joey from his father’s view. “Are you hearing yourself? Hell?”

“ Why not? She  came to take some livestock back to hell, and she’d be back in hell with some of the livestock she wanted.  And not enough  of it to get in my way .” Caesar s tarted shaking . “She makes me sick,  the way she corrupts our language with those  _ r gr _ ’ s and  _ smuwu _ _ glu _ _ s _ _ s _ ’ s .  And anyway, w hat about  _ my _ plans for the human race?  _ Lnmya _ ’s set that back  by bringing another demon up here .”

A nother demon. Henry swallowed. “How long have you been possessing my father?”

Caesar grinned, but his teeth were no longer human. He grew horns from his head, claws from his hands, and his skin turned red.

Henry scooted back, but he couldn’t get two inches away, and Caesar was moving closer.  He bent down and set a hand on Henry’s shoulder. “Son, I think it’s time you knew the truth. Didn’t you ever wonder why exorcism was fatal to your sisters?”

His heart raced. He  thought he knew what was going on, but what could he do against a demon? “You called your buddies to get them possessed  too !”

“ No, Xnmr. I’m not possessing anyone.  This is me, a demon, and you are half-demon. ”

H e nry pressed back against the spell boundary,  watching as Caesar pulled his hand away.

But Caesar’s lips were pressed together and his eyes were frowning. “ _ Lnmya  _ summoned a demon called Wulisae, and her activities are bound to attract unwanted heavenly attention. If heaven sends angels, they will find me, and I’ll be returned to hell.”

He made a note to thank Joey if he ever got back to normal.

Caesar paused, and when Henry opened his mouth, he held up a finger to silence him. “I can’t tell if Wulisae wishes to kill you or recruit you. Either way, she sends a lot of special spiders to you. The angels will be able to track you down almost effortlessly. You’ll be dead.”

H e nry peeked at Joey, who was standing in his palm. The  ceiling  light  was reflecting from his eyes.

His eyes landed on the scissors. “ He cut me free of the webs. Isn’t there a way we can give him a chance to fix this mess?”

“He’s a spider, not _dead_. Spiders are weak little cowards, but they can make useful pets. Just put a drop of your blood on his head and you’ll be linked. It’s probably safer for him that way too. Consider him a belated present for all those birthdays and holidays I missed.”

S omething warm slid down Henry’s cheek. “Change him back.”

Caesar stood. “Back in your human form, Xnmr.”

Henry’s skin returned to its normal color. His claws disappeared. He still glared at his father. “I still need him.”

“ Stand up, Xnmr. You can’t stay here.”

“ I’m not staying with you!”

They got into a staring contest. Henry won.

Caesar crossed his arms. “Fine. I shall have to collect a favor.”

  
  


H enry  didn’t put a drop of blood on Joey’s head, but he  kept bugging  his dad to restore  his humanity as they left his apartment, drove to the other side of town, and arrived at a gated community.  By the time they pulled to a crowded curb, Henry was regretting that he insisted on not staying with his dad – what was he supposed to do with Joey? He didn’t trust his dad to take care of him if his host didn’t allow him in.

He tried to ask who he was staying with, but his dad just smirked. He led him to a large house with tall, glass  planters, from which red snapdragon heads poked out.

Caesar plucked a dead leaf from the plants and whispered to it. It grew into a stuffed Bendy doll the size of Henry. A tag hung from its horn and read _HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LUTHER!_

A s Caesar knocked on a large French door, Joey ran up Henry’s arm. He caught him and stroked his head. “I’m here.”

It didn’t seem to calm Joey any, nor did it do much to calm Henry when the door was answered by a seven-foot tall beefy man wearing a suit with orange ruffles. The man scowled and asked something in Italian.

Caesar  flashed his demon form.  “ It’s me, you idiot!”

T he man jumped. “Boss! It’s your men de r!”

“ What does he want?”

“I don’t know. It looks like he came for the party.”

S omething was shouted back in Italian.

Although it was the butler trembling now, he gestured  for them to come in. He was clutching at something  metal around his neck.

Inside was a marble floor and a grand staircase, but the excitement came from a room off to the side, where the bulbs in the chandelier had been replaced with a rainbow of lights, streamers threatened to trip the guests, and a fountain shot champagne under Luther #3!

Was this supposed to be a kid's party? The crowd were all adults, dressed for a night out. They lounged around tables, dining on sandwiches and other light fare. The only indication otherwise was a large pile of gifts in the corner that included a gilded rocking horse.

I n the corner was the only child, dressed in a tux, sitting on a woman’s lap, and wearing a napkin around his neck that was smeared with chocolate cake. A man patted his head before strolling toward them.  "Oh, Caesar! It has been too long! Luther, look what Uncle Caesar brought you!"

The man planted a kiss on each of his father’s cheeks.  When he pulled away, he nodded toward Henry. “Who’s the  j amoke?”

“ This is my son, Henry. Henry, this is Ememmyo.”

H enry held out a hand. “What’s your real name?”

The man blinked. “Respectful for a demon, ain’t you? Name’s Emilio Capitani.  Call me Emilio.”

H enry had eaten, but his stomach growled anyway.

Emilio steered him and his dad toward some free seats.  “Hey, Dewey! Grab my friends here something from the buffet!”

D ewey, the butler,  scooted toward the edge of the room. “How am I opposed to know what demons like?  Do I look like a dermatologist to you? ”

Caesar licked his lips. “I don’t mind if you don’t  fetch us food . I can always eat you instead.”

Dewey ran for the buffet.

Henry crossed his arms, careful not to drop Joey. “Was that really necessary?”

T he question went unanswered because Caesar was speaking Italian with Emilio  and showing him Bendy’s paper.  Bendy was nowhere to be seen,  but the situation gnawed at Henry’s stomach.

H e doubted there was anything he could do without making things worse.

To distract himself, he turned  his attention to the birthday boy. Someone had taken the plush doll over to him, and he was wrapping his arms around the doll’s neck.

At least he knew someone outside the studio would like the new character. Someone who didn’t know about the living Bendy.  Not that  knowing helped  one bit .

The next moment, Bendy’s paper was shoved in his face, and Caesar was saying, “Make your golem come out.”

Was it a good idea to let a demon and his friend meet Bendy? Probably not, but it was worse to let Bendy stay in the demon’s hands.  “Alright, just give him back.”

O nce Henry had Bendy’s paper firmly in one hand, he leaned forward and whispered, “Hey, buddy. I won’t let them hurt you. Do you want to come out?”

Bendy threw something out from behind the letter  _ A _ _ ,  _ but it turned out to be more than one something. It was slivers that piled up next to the episode title, and Henry spent a minute making out what they were.

H e couldn’t at first, but he saw the shower of tears the followed them out of Bendy’s hiding place and the puddle that formed on the ground.  He didn’t remember drawing anything that Bendy would have gotten attached to, but he supposed Bendy must have found a toy in something. “ I can draw you a new one.”

He squinted. And then he realized what the splinters were: fragments of a doll. On them, Henry could make out bits of that spiky script that adorned Joey’s apartment door.

He shot a glare over the top of the paper, held it upright, and set Joey in front of it. “Any ideas?”

Joey scurried  down the table and across the crowded floor. “No, come back! Joey!”

He chased him.

As people noticed the spider, a few of them shrieked. They all backed away.

Joey was running toward the corner of the room. The birthday boy was  back in his mother’s lap , holding a book and crying. “’Uther not ev i ’.  Don’t ‘et it be so mean !”

Soon, they noticed Joey.

The mother screamed. The little boy took his book and aimed it at Joey.

“Stop! Don’t smash him!”

No help from Caesar – Henry could hear him ki-kikking back where he’d left him.  He ran  faster .

H e reached out.

Luther’s book smacked his hand, but Joey escaped the book.

“Stop!”  Henry let Joey onto his hand. “Calm down. I’ ve got  you .”

H e brought his hands to his chest, and Bendy’s paper shielded Joey from the outside world. He saw Bendy peeking out, biting his fingers.

He nry smiled. “It’s okay. Everyone’s fine.”

Even as he said it, the room was  too  quiet.  Everyone was staring at Henry.  T he  crowd .  The boy and his mother. The butler hiding atop the refreshment table. Everyone but his father and Emilio.

He swallowed. “This is my pet spider, Joey.”

J ust for a moment, Henry thought he saw the strangest thing – something wet in the eyes of Luther’s mother.  She blinked it away. “ Joey? That  i s your pet’s name? Is Joey injured?”

“ I don’t know.” Henry checked Joey over. “I don’t think so. Just scared.”

A s the crowd settled down, Henry  caught Bendy reaching toward Joey. “Were you worried?”

Bendy hung his head and hid back behind the letter. His puddle grew  large enough to sweep away the splinters.

O ne broken doll. One demon acting as upset about Joey the Spider as Henry himself. Somehow, it all had to be Caesar’s fault.

Henry took a breath. It couldn’t do to let any of his feelings for his father lash out at Bendy, could it?  “ It was a voodoo doll, wasn’t it? There’s only one thing I can see it having done, and that’s getting rid of the shadow that was trying to kill us. Will you come out?”

Bendy slunk out,  picked up the pieces of doll, and pointed to Joey.  Joey swatted Bendy’s horns with a fuzzy leg.

B endy moved. He pointed at Joey again and tapped his foot.

“This is Joey. I think he’s doing as well as can be expected. I promise you had nothing to do with turning him into a spider. That was all Caesar. But you and I, the two of us will see to it that he’s turned human again. How’s that?”

Bendy nodded.

Joey swatted him with his legs again.  This time, Bendy wiped his eyes and started giggling.  He moved as though trying to catch the legs swatting him, but only being 2D, his arms came back empty.

H e sniffed.

“ You’re alright.”

“So there is a movin’  runt in there. How strange. Whatcha plannin’ to do with  it ?”

H enry jumped. He hadn’t noticed  Caesar and Emilio coming up behind him.

W as it just him, or was it hot in there?  He swallowed. Honestly, Ben dy was an accident, but he couldn’t say that in front of him, could he? Besides, he needed something to get his dad to lose interest in Bendy without deeming him disposable.

H e had nothing. “I don’t know. Talk to him, I guess.”

Caesar choked.

Emilio cleared his throat. “Looks like Dewey finally got your food. Shall we?”

They went, but Caesar was making faces as Henry as they did so. “ _ I don’t know. Talk to him, I guess? _ Sometimes I wonder if  you  have  any  brain capacity or only the ability to speak .”

“ At least I have a heart !”

“ I  think he means  your little ink spot sounds like the imaginary friend you’re too old to have.  And I agree.  But  it’s harmless enough. You couldn’t be an artist if you weren’t nuts somehow. ” Emilio took his seat.

H enry  bristled.

“ Taralli?”

Henry took a bread ring from Emilio and sat down. In front of him was a plate filled with salad, fancy bread and sausages. There was also a glass and a smaller plate topped with a slice of cake.

H e bit into his taralli  before he could be asked any real questions.  His dad reached for Bendy’s paper, and he snatched him away.

It became a juggling act, keeping both Bendy and Joey safe and still getting to eat.  Eventually, Henry gave up on eating, and Caesar gave up on grabbing  Henry’s friends.

B ut  he didn’t do so without scra p ing a claw against his glass and hurting Henry’s ears. “ I can’t believe this from my offspring.”

U nlike with the spider crawling across the floor, the sound wasn’t enough to cause a scene, but there were several flinches and a few curious glances that Emilio diverted away.  Once their conversation was relatively private again, Emilio leaned in. “Listen, Pops. How old is your  son anyway? In demon years.”

C aesar just scoffed.

Henry blinked. Was Emilio doing what he thought he was doing? “He doesn’t teach me these things, but I’d imagine I’m very young for a demon. I’m just starting to be able to use my magic.”

“ Just starting to be able to use his magic!” Emilio clapped Henry on the back. “ They grow up so fast, don’t they? Now, listen, I’m tellin’ ya as a friend – young ones need their parents around. He might not need a golem to talk to if ya just spend more time with him. Get him involved in the family business.”

“ What qualifies a m afioso to give me parenting advice?”

H enry felt sick. But it wasn’t that surprising, was it? That his dad would be friends with  criminals .  He curled his hands over Joey and Bendy.

E milio pointed a thumb to Henry. “Your kid is scared  right now, like he’s got a problem with us or something , but my kid loves me.”

He shifted.

“ Perhaps you have a point.”  Caesar tapped the table with his finger extended toward Henry . “You. My house. Tomorrow morning.”

“ No!”

C aesar sharpened his teeth. “You’ll come, or I’ll use your true name to make you squish your new pet.”

Henry pulled Joey off the table. “He should be human.”

Emilio wore a poker face, so it was hard for Henry to tell if that came as a surprise to the man. He knew he was mafia and all, but was he any better than his father? “He turned him into a spider for how he was trying to help me. No, he couldn’t be bothered to tell either of us that I’m half-demon.”

“ Sometimes  pests gotta be  whacked , you know?” Emilio leaned into the table. “Hey, Caesar, is th e kid gonna squeal?”

H ow did  Henry get mixed up in  all this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Question of the week:
> 
> Is it just me, or are the random span tags AO3 adds in getting worse?
> 
> Next time:
> 
> Dewey Decimated


	13. In Which Caesar Cooks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last time:
> 
> Caesar reveals to Henry that he’s a demon, and thus Henry is half-demon. He complains that the demon that Joey summoned is interfering with his plans for the human race and then takes Henry, Bendy, and spider!Joey to meet his mafia boss friend, Emilio Capitani.
> 
> At the Capitani’s, there’s a birthday party going on for “Emilio’s” son that’s focused on entertaining adults rather than letting Luther socialize with other toddlers. Henry is forced to introduce Bendy to Emilio, and Luther almost crushes Joey. Henry saves Joey and assures Bendy that Joey getting turned into a spider was not his fault. Afterward, he’s forced to sit through Emilio giving his dad advice on how he can make Henry act more like the two of them.

Emilio put Henry up in a lime green guest room with a queen-sized bed and two night stands. He gave him a jar for Joey with orders to keep him contained. 

Henry didn’t put Joey in the jar right away. He sat on the bed, Bendy’s paper resting beside him, and held Joey on his lap. “Please tell me you still have your human mind.” 

“You still have your human mind.”

The words came from Joey, but they were in Henry’s voice. Joey ran down Henry’s leg.

Henry scooped him up and put him in the jar. “I’m sorry I have to do this.” He set the jar on the nightstand and picked up Bendy’s paper. “If Caesar is friends with my dad, he might have some magic books somewhere. I’m going to see if I can find something to help Joey. Will you stay here and keep him company?”

Bendy nodded.

Henry set the paper next to the jar. He slipped out of his room and went walking through the halls. They were long and lined with thick shag carpets. Low tables ran the flower-paper-plastered walls, decorated with vases and globes.

He found a closet stuffed with top-end cleaning supplies, a bathroom with fake candles for lights, and a study with a whole wall of built-in bookshelves. He let himself in and closed the door behind him. “Now if I were a mobster, where would I keep my magic books?”

It was hard to tell which books Emilio read the most – the books stood neatly and the shelves smelled like wood polish. But still, Henry could make some guesses about what the best-used books were – some of the books had spines with more wear than the others. There were some low shelves full of children’s books, only a taped-up copy of _The Tales of King Arthur_ out of place, and there was a shelf at a reading desk that had its spines worn enough that titles were being rubbed out.

No, decided Henry as he got closer, it wasn’t necessarily that Emilio read them a lot, it was that the books on that shelf were ancient. There was a thin volume in Italian whose author Henry recognized – _Machiavelli_ – and a thick tome with a cross on its spine that Henry assumed had to be an old family bible. But beside it?

Henry stared.

_The Illusion of Humanity: 12 Tales of Unusual Contact with Demons_

He pulled it off the shelf. “ Okay, Dad. What were you up to?” He scanned the table of contents. 

> 1 The Prophecy that Became a Fairy Tale  
>  2 The Martians  
>  3 The Hell-Puppy  
>  4 There’s No Difference Between Cats and Demons  
>  5 The Youngest Vessel  
>  6 A Changeling Babe  
>  7 The Fruit Vendor  
>  8 The Demon’s Daughter  
>  9 The Devil in the Water  
>  10 The Contract Written in Lemon Juice  
>  11 True Name Shenanigans  
>  12 The Exorcist who Got Possessed 

T ale number eight was highlighted. Henry flipped to it. He buried his nose in the smell of old paper and read it up. 

It was only a story about a mother figuring out that her daughter’s father had been a demon. It didn’t even say much about what being half-demon meant for the girl except that her mother didn’t want her after she knew what she was. 

Henry slid it back on the shelf. Okay, so Caesar was right about the book not being that useful to him, but he couldn’t just hope that he gave him a way to change Joey back to normal. He looked through Emilio’s other books on that shelf. There was one collection of the Capitanis’ ped i gree charts (which listed Luther as Emilio’s legal son ), two books written in Demontongue, and one _A Beginner’s Encyclopedia to Magic_ . 

H e thumbed through, looking for any entry related to Joey’s predicament. He found one: _HUMAN TRANSFORMATION_ . He’d read half of the first sentence, _Generally irreversible,_ when Dewey’s voice called. “Hey, you! This li e-ber ry is p irate . No guests!” 

H enry dropped the book. 

Dewey was taking up the entire doorway. H i s hands were trembling as he reached around his neck. His face was a red that reminded Henry of an erupting volcano. 

H enry pressed himself against the bookshelves. “I’m sorry. I’ll go back to my room.” 

Dewey’s suit was turning black and shiny, like a cartoon. The effect spread to his shir t, gloves, and the door frame. The door frame dripped its ink onto Dewey’s head, and the ink shaped itself into a funny sort of hat – like an inkwell cap topped with a feather. 

F rom where he was, Henry could see Dewey panting. He gulped. “That was an accident.” 

B ut Dewey pulled out his cross anyway . He charged at Henry. 

H enry leaped away. 

Dewey crashed into the desk. It scraped the floor. 

He turned. 

Henry ran out the door. The hall had changed to black-and-white. The table took the whole width. It stretched out endlessly.

T hwoing! 

A pen embedded itself into the wall. 

Henry jumped on the table. He ran. He leaped over the now- giant globes and avoided shooting ink. He cleared a giant pen. 

Crash! Dewey must not have been so lucky. 

He nry thought he had time to slip away, catch his breath. Whack! Something hit his head. He dropped. He winced. 

His head was throbbing, and i t wasn’t just throbbing: i t was burning too. T he sensation was sliding down his neck, through his chest…. 

“What is goin’ on here?”

H enry opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Dewey’s cross, only a foot or so in front of him. The next was a foot – Emilio’s. 

“Look what he did! Why do we gotta have demons in here? My clothes look like a carton, and the hall looks like the tightrope zone!”

W hat would Emilio do to someone like him? Henry swallowed. “ I can explain-” 

“ _Nde t’it’lxm. Nde gande. Gakrnde t’sindeli lisnet’u!”_ Emilio glanced around his hallway, but nothing happened. Frowning, he met Henry’s eyes. “How off was I?”

“I don’t speak Demontongue.” Henry got to his feet. “But I can fix this.”

E milio was grumbling something about Caesar instead of listening to Henry. He stepped further into the hall. _“T’sindets!”_

Still nothing happened. 

“ _Krzukss, t’sindeli lisnet’u.”_

As the hall returned to normal, Emilio spun to face Henry. “You said you can explain. Explain then.”

Emilio was still dressed in that snazzy mobster suit. Probably packing.

Henry wrapped his arms around himself. “I’m just barely starting to get my magic. I can’t always keep it under control, and...” If he said anything about one of Emilio’s crowd, would Emilio believe him?

“He was stealing your books, boss! I found him amusing your personal correction! Can you change my suit back now?”

Emilio muttered something. He strutted to Henry. “What were you doing in my study?”

Henry racked his brain for something he could use. Couldn’t sleep? No, no excuse for looking through someone’s stuff. Saw something suspicious? If Emilio already thought he had an imaginary friend, he would just say that he’s a child who imagines monsters in the closet. “It was Joey.”

“I told you to keep him contained!”

“I did!” Henry forced himself to take a breath. “It’s just that – he was talking.”

Emilio huffed. Crossing his arms, he said, “I know that other demon sent her talkin’ spiders after you, but just because yours started talkin’ don’t mean she’s here. What about him talkin’ made you such a ‘fraidy cat?”

He shifted his weight. “He was talking in my voice, and, uh….” He shouldn’t have said anything about Joey. “I wasn’t expecting it.”

“You weren’t expecting it? If he was talkin’, you must have told him to. What were you expecting?”

Time to think fast. What could Joey say to get him so upset? Religion? Could a demonic spider even talk about that? Health? What would be the problem? Money? “Just… not for him to start reciting _Humpty Dumpty_. I asked him to tell me what was going to happen at our work with him a spider now.”

Emilio raised an eyebrow. “Humpty Dumpty?”

“Yeah.” Henry pressed his sweating palms to his pants. “Anyways, I figured my magic was acting up. I didn’t want to trouble you with looking into it.”

“So you got into my books.” Emilio grabbed him and steered him back to the guest room. “Didn’t your mother teach you not to touch things that don’t belong to you? I know I told your pops I’d let you stay here, but I didn’t expect to have to babysit you for him. He should pay me! I ain’t dealin’ with this after tonight.”

He pushed Henry through the door, leaving Henry stumbling into the bed. The door slammed behind him, and Henry heard Emilio telling Dewey to be sure that he didn’t leave the room again.

Bendy was watching him.

Henry turned the paper over and got ready for bed. “Sorry, kiddo. Going to sleep now. I’ll try again later.”

  
  


A bucket of ice water woke Henry the next morning. “Five o’clock. Get your stuff ready to see your pops, and get out of my house!”

Henry didn’t have a chance to snoop through Emilio’s library again. He was dumped off at his dad’s place and whisked into a kitchen, where a bright orange table cloth covered a round table, and purple plates lay ready to be decked in food from the counter.

At least the food smelled good. There was a smoked, meaty smell, as well as a sharp, sweet smell Henry couldn’t identify.

Caesar lounged at the table in his human form and pointed to a serving plate stacked with bacon and a bowl full of something long and slimy in a red sauce. “Eat.”

Henry took some bacon and sniffed at the bowl. “What is it?”

“Sunid. It’s very healthy for us demons.”

When Henry put the serving spoon in the bowl, limp white worms rose to the surface. He let go. “Are those worms?”

Caesar forced the spoon into Henry’s mouth. “I said eat!”

The worms tasted like a soft cheese, but part of Henry still wanted to hurl. He chewed anyway. Inside the worms were subtle flavors – nuts, thyme, salt…. He swallowed. “I’m serious. Are those worms?”

“Yes.” Caesar spooned more onto his plate. He scowled at something on Henry’s face. “I can’t believe I have to bribe you to eat. Finish that and I have a treat I suppose I can share.”

Henry sniffed again. He caught the scent of the bacon, as well as a delicate bread-and-cheese-like aroma from the worms, but in the background was something sweet and fruity. His mouth watered. He supposed the worms weren’t bad, and he was curious about the treat. “I’m not a full demon. You’re sure this stuff is healthy for a half-human too?”

“Your powers are still activating. You need all the demonic nutrients you can get!”

He took a bite. Chew. Gag. Swallow. Lick his lips.

“It’s delicious when you give it a chance, isn’t it?”

Henry spooned some aside. “Is it safe for Joey? He must be hungry too.”

But Caesar wasn’t there at the moment. Henry released Joey from his jar. “Here you go. Please find something you can eat.”

Joey scuttled over to Bendy’s paper and whacked Bendy with his front legs. Henry was starting to suspect it wasn’t a form of play. He picked him up. “Stop fighting. You know what? I’m just going to have to ask my dad about you.”

He finished his sunid while his father was still gone. When Caesar came back, it was with a book that he set in front of Henry. “Here’s the one I promised you.”

It had a dark red cover with a frying pan on it. In the frying pan was a bubbling green liquid and floating bat wings. The title was in Demontongue, but it was crossed out with a blue marker. Above it was written _55 human-demon-hybrid-safe recipes for your awakening powers._ “You got me a cookbook?”

“Do you have any idea how long that took to translate?”

Henry opened the cover. Inside were several illustrated pages. Some had margins covered with hand-written notes, all with _SAFE TO CONSUME_ at the top of the page. Others were almost blank, only a _FOR FULL DEMONS ONLY_ near the recipe title. The recipes ranged from the humanly-inedible, _sunid – worms saturated with cyanide-water and served in diluted goat’s blood_ ; to the exotic, _insect fry_ _–_ _made with beetles, crickets, and despite the name, a few spiders_ ; to the mundane, _bacon soup –_ _thick and savory with its most unusual ingredient being_ _cubed rutabaga._

Henry’s heart fell a little, but of course it wasn’t a magic book. That would be too easy. Too helpful for Joey. He forced a _thanks_.

Caesar munched his bacon. Henry ate some of his own, keeping an eye on his father. Was he in a good mood? He swallowed his food. “Are demons as social as humans?”

“In some aspects. It depends what you mean by _social_. Do we enjoy company? No. Must we rely on other demons sometimes? Yes.”

That explained a lot of stuff from when Henry was growing up. He wiped his fingers on his napkin. “I’m human enough that I need-”

“When you don’t need another’s company, it frees your mind. You can see through to a _summoner_ ’s hidden agenda.”

Henry slammed a palm on the table. “I didn’t like him at first either, but I was wrong. And so are you.”

His dad sat loose-limbed, a smirk on his face. Henry wished he could punch him, but then how would he ever get his help with this? He counted down from ten.

How did Caesar know this was about Joey anyway? Henry curled his hands on the table. “You were right. You weren’t the best dad when I was growing up. I think you forget I’m human enough that I need social ties. A family bond. You can’t provide that, but Joey can.”

“I am not letting him bring someone I love to any more harm.”

Henry squeezed his fists to keep himself from throwing up. “What do you mean by that?”

“Your true name.” Caesar walked into the kitchen. “Didn’t you ever wonder why I don’t use it to control you much?”

Henry had meant the word _love,_ but he couldn’t let his dad keep justifying what he’d done to Joey. “He didn’t use it on me knowingly. What else were we supposed to think but I was possessed?” Henry glared at Caesar, but it was pointless – Caesar was opening the fridge.

Something clattered against the counter. A desert plate? No, Henry already smelled the something sweet that was already out.

Caesar got a jar out of a cupboard. It was filled with something black and slimy, and when he opened it, the mouth-watering sweetness got stronger. “That didn’t answer my question. Didn’t you ever wonder why I don’t use your true name to control you often?”

Not really. Did his dad expect that to top his list of questions with having so many other things on his plate and only so recently learned what a true name was? Regardless, it was an excellent one to ask.

“I assume even you aren’t that evil, to knowingly control a relative that way.”

He nodded. “Using it to get your attention doesn’t cause any damage. But using it to control you? Didn’t you notice how sick you get when you try to resist? If you can. It’s just a little bit each time, but each time someone gives you an order with your true name, it decreases your ability to resist orders in general. Over time, it will even damage your magic, and then you’d be useless to me.”

What did he want with him anyway?

Caesar returned to the table. He did have a desert plate. It had something pink and bumpy underneath a swath of the black stuff. That something smelled a bit rancid, but not rancid enough to ruin the appeal of its topping. He had a knife and two forks as well, and he used one to hold down a slither of food as he cut off the tip. “Let’s give you a little taste. Say _ah_.”

Henry’s curiosity got the better of him. He reached for the fork. “I can feed my-”

The food was spongy. It was filled with little pockets of half-congealed liquid. Its topping had the consistency of cream cheese. It all coated Henry’s taste buds with a rich, sweet flavor. As it melted in his mouth, the tension melted from the rest of Henry’s body. “Why is this better than chocolate?”

“It’s called _mr_. The recipe is in your book.”

Caesar cut himself a bite, which Henry eyed as he lifted it to his mouth and popped it in. He watched the fork as it went back to the _mr_.

Chuckling, Caesar cut another sliver. He held it in front of Henry’s nose, only to pull it away as Henry tried to eat it. “You will stop asking me to change _Lnmya_ back?”

The fork was _right there_ , but Henry couldn’t get it. He looked away. “I can’t do that.”

Caesar scraped the sliver onto the plate and scooped it up with his own fork. “It’s not going to happen.”

He put the treat in his mouth, swallowed, and licked his lips. He cut another bite.

Henry couldn’t watch. He watched Joey attempting to spin a web inside his jar instead. “I need him.”

“I can’t oblige. I love you too much.”

The _mr_ didn’t look appetizing anymore. Was that blood caked on the plate? How hadn’t he noticed that? “Define that word now.”

Caesar blinked. “Oblige? Xnmr, if you haven’t mastered English, you can see why I couldn’t teach you Demontongue.”

“Not that one. _Love._ ”

“You need a definition of _love?”_ Caesar cut the remaining _mr_ into two bites and lifted one to his mouth. _“_ Young people. You abase whatever language you speak.”

Henry growled. He was the one who needed the definition? “Just define it!”

“Watch the way you address your superiors.” Caesar rested his wrist on the table. “Love is the feeling of pride in a job well-done that you get when you’ve raised a hard-to-obtain type of underling into an excellent knight for your goals. It’s a severe reluctance to have to replace them, even if it means doing a thing or two you wouldn’t usually do.”

Underling? Henry tasted the sudin coming back up his throat. He swallowed. “That’s what you think it is?”

And if it was, then why did his dad say he loved him? He rested his head in his hands. Never mind that he’d been right – his dad didn’t love him. How could he use this to get Joey back?

“What’s wrong?”

Henry peeked through his fingers. Caesar was setting his fork next to the empty plate.

He took a breath. “What _goals_ am I helping you with?”

“My plans for the human race. Humans have been reluctant to deal with demons lately, so I want them to see how beneficial magic can be. Yet, it’s illegal for us to let any non-demon running around Earth, do magic, and get everything they want out of the deal. That’s where you come in – you’re not a non-demon.”

Hypocrite. Henry slid his hand down his face. “Of course humans would be reluctant to deal with demons if you turn every one that does into a spider.”

“It’s not the summoning. It’s backing out of his end of the deal. It’s also who he summoned and his using your true name against you. Besides which, binding your magic? The only good reason to do that is to keep your mother from detecting you.”

“Did you bind my magic?” Henry didn’t know what Caesar wanted with him exactly, but he got the feeling he wouldn’t do that for him again.

“Just look what happened to your sisters! Theirs was so weak I thought they didn’t have any to bind, but the first time Susskik changes her dolly’s dress from pink to yellow, your mother panics and the priest suggests she lets him exorcise her and Aeli.”

“He didn’t know!” Joey, that is. The priest might not have either.

Caesar made a face. “What do you think he’d do if he knew what you are? Humans hate us. I didn’t want to confirm it for him in case anyone summons his soul down the road, but he might already have it figured out anyway. Not before we came to save you: when he heard what he talked about at your apartment.”

Henry opened his mouth, but he had a point, didn’t he? He’d told Joey he thought his demon was harmless, and Joey still insisted he didn’t do magic. And if there was anything left of his mind in that spider…. Well, he’d run away from him at the party. And Bendy was harmless, but Joey was attacking him.

He also remembered that story he read the night before. He shivered.

But still…. “He didn’t seem scared of me back there. Isn’t there a way to find out what he knows?”

“You won’t like it.”

Henry waved a hand to Joey’s jar. “I don’t like this.” His chest clenched. Oh, how he hated what he was about to offer! “Look. What do you want me for?”

“If you’re trying to make a compromise with your human morals, don’t bother – the more humans see a ‘moral human being’ using demon magic without harm, the more will be willing to try it themselves. That’s all I want. You. Mastering your magic and using it openly. You should keep your morals.”

“This isn’t-”

“You’re not the one who turned Joey into a spider. It’s got nothing to do with your morals.” Caesar smirked. “Don’t you have work soon?”

“I think the boss will understand.” Henry leaned forward. “What if I stopped using my magic at all?”

Caesar rested his head on his hand. “Do you propose to create another situation like when Ibta and his spiders showed up at your apartment? Do you think you’ve see Wulisae’s full power? You and all your ‘social ties,’ as you put it, will be in greater danger if you surrender your magic.”

Was he bluffing? Henry watched his face a minute for any tells, but his dad had always been a good liar. And he’d been telling the truth lately. He couldn’t afford for this to be true as well. “I can keep using my magic, but I’m going to need the support to do it properly. I’ve got Bendy to talk to about things I can’t talk to Joey about, but I need a strong bond with another human being. Joey’s been the only one around here who loves me – actually loves me. I don’t think you’re capable of understanding what we humans mean by that.”

Caesar was scowling. “What would you do if he doesn’t love you?”

He didn’t want to think about that. He didn’t like what he was about to propose either. “I can make him forget I’m half-demon, but I need him. There’s got to be another way to keep him from causing trouble for you.”

It took Caesar a minute to answer. “Fine. We’ll change him back, but we’ve got to make a deal first.”

They talked things over, and Henry had to agree – yes, he’d use magic; no, he’d tell no one about Caesar or Emilio or anything they did; yes, he’d keep Joey out of the way of Caesar’s goals; and no, he would not inform Joey that he was half demon. But yes, Joey would be human again, and no, Caesar wouldn’t transform him again.

Caesar left the room to get a bit of sulfur, and when he came back, he dangled Joey over it. He brought a claw out and lifted something from under the spider’s belly. He pulled out a sleeping soul.

Henry grabbed his arm. “What are you doing? Stop!”

“I thought you wanted him human.” Caesar tugged himself free from Henry.

But Henry snatched Joey. “Wake up! You’re in danger!”

“He’s still alive. A living soul won’t wake outside its body.” Caesar swiped at Joey.

Henry pulled him away. “I don’t trust you.”

“If you’re performing high-level magic on an intelligent being, you need its consent. _Lnmya_ isn’t capable of giving it right now, so he needs a representative – someone who knows his true name – to agree for him.”

“And you need his soul for that?”

Caesar stepped forward.

Henry got out of his chair.

Caesar scowled, but he didn’t come any closer. “You ate Larry Ruth. Tell me, Xnmr, what’s Ruth’s true name?”

Henry thought he didn’t know, but his lips parted anyway. “Greenfist.”

Something surged inside his chest. The taste of chocolate came back to his mouth.

“Feel that? That, Xnmr, is why demons eat souls.”

He hid Joey behind his back. “You mean if I want Joey back, he’ll have to lose his soul?”

“Not if I don’t swallow.”

Caesar lumbered toward Henry, but Henry couldn’t let him be the one to learn Joey’s true name. He popped the soul in his mouth and sucked on it.

Joey tasted like fine dark chocolate. Henry almost swallowed.

He spat the soul back into the spider. It woke up. He took it and ran.

  
  


The spiders were crawling around inside him again. Joey was on a hard wooden floor. He couldn’t think. He could barely question what happened to all the webs and the demon hand he was crawling toward. There was a warm arm around his shoulders.

“Spit them up, Rootsword. Spit them all up.”

Joey shook. The shock ran through Joey’s nerves. His jaw opened. By the time he realized he wasn’t the one who opened it, he was spitting out the spiders.

His chest was heaving. His mind was clearing. He still didn’t have the control to stop spitting. He wouldn’t complain, but couldn’t he have the option to do it himself?

The last of the spiders were out. They keeled over and turned to dust.

He looked up. He was in his office at work.

Henry was beside him, back in his normal human appearance and smiling. “Welcome back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Question of the chapter:
> 
> How much can Joey remember if he tries?
> 
> Next time:
> 
> The Ink Machine gets a new home.


	14. In Which Golems are Defined

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last time:
> 
> Henry looks for magic books at the Capitani’s to change Joey back to normal, but instead he finds out for himself how useless The Illusion of Humanity is to him. Afterward, he causes a magic accident and gets chased by an angry Dewey. Emilio is displeased and kicks him out of his house at the first opportunity.
> 
> He has breakfast with Caesar, who introduces him to some demon foods and gives him a cookbook. They argue about Joey, and Henry eventually gets Caesar to agree to help him change Joey human again by 1) convincing Caesar that he needs Joey to help him with the human side of his ability to use magic and 2) by making a deal with Caesar.
> 
> Caesar tries to get Joey’s true name in order to change him back, but Henry takes him and runs off. Henry runs to Joey’s office and changes him back there.

Joey pushed Henry back. “I need air.” He rested his forehead on his palm.

_Rootsword. Rootsword. Rootsword._

It hurt. The best way he could describe it was it felt like someone had locked him inside a Joey-shaped cast and shaken him up until he shattered. And it tingled. Painfully. Like someone had electrified the shatters.

“You look sick.”

H e  clutched the chair arm . “ It’s said that the first time your true name is used is the worst. You’ve probably gotten used to yours if your dad keeps using it.”  How had Henry gotten  his in the first place?

Henry was looking him over. “ Does anything hurt?”

His soul did, but there was nothing else. Nothing but Joey’s ego.  He shook his head.

T here was no reason  _Henry_ would know how to get his true name.  He peeked at Henry’s eyes, but they were the same color as ever. There wasn’t even a hint of fangs or horns to hint his demon was even awake.

H e could have sworn it was Henry’s voice using his true name, but it made no sense to him for it to be someone as inexperienced as Henry. “Is there someone else in here?”

Henry pounded a fist against Joey’s desk.  He left the wood cracked. “ Sorry.”  He tapped the desk. “Please fix yourself.”

While Henry was occupied,  Joey  took a look around. He saw no one but Henry.  He could only hope this was like the time Ruth chased Henry in here. He curled his trembling fingers and asked  if anyone else was there  again.

“No. Just us. It’s just – there’s a kid I left at my dad’s. Alone with _him_. I was concerned about you, but I can’t believe I forgot him!” Henry closed his eyes and took a breath through his mouth.

J oey didn’t blame him for being concerned, but what kid? Even if  he’d gotten one of the neighborhood kids to point out Caesar’s house to him, he didn’t think Henry would have gotten them to accompany him inside. “ What’s a kid-”

“If I went back for him, are you safe on your own now?”

J oey straightened. “Look who’s talking.  _I_ went to save  _you._ ”

“You did save me. Thank you.” Henry smiled, but his mouth was full of fangs.

H e tensed.

Henry held a hand to his mouth. “Teeth.”

Not that again. “ Just because you’re using magic to change your appearance back to normal doesn’t mean you’re getting any more control over your demon.”  Joey reached for his wheels, but he was in a normal chair.  He swore. “My chair’s still at your apartment.”

T here was an odd look on Henry’s face, almost like, was that pity? Or regret?

Joey dug his elbow into the chair arm. “Something happened to it, didn’t it.”

“Joey, I-” Henry shut his mouth. He greened. “How much do you remember from being a spider?”

Nothing. Nothing beyond trusting Henry over Caesar.  And Henry still wasn’t answering his questions.  I f he couldn’t get closer to Henry, could he bring Henry closer to him? Joey beckoned him toward him.

Henry shook his head and took a step back. “ There’s someone I have to pick up.  In the meantime, that is your new wheelchair.”

T he chair arm rounded. It grew a treaded tire from itself.

Joey thought he saw Henry’s fingertips regrow their claws. “I don’t need this so badly. My insurance will cover repairs, or a replacement if I need one. Don’t risk this.”

“I’m not putting myself at risk. I-” After Henry cut off, he backed toward the door. It was open, but he bumped into a door frame. “I’m doing the best I can. Will you swear to keep up this new connection of ours, no matter what the situation with me and demons is, Rootsword?”

T he shock ran through Joey.

Henry turned his head away. “No, don’t answer that.  Just come straight to me if there’s another emergency.”

H e ran.  Joey could hear his feet pounding down the hall. He called after him, but he didn’t come back.

W hat  in magic’s name was Henry talking about with himself and demons? And he’d never answered how he knew Joey’s true name either!

I f Henry wouldn’t talk and the Storyteller was stumped, it was time he started looking elsewhere for answers. He wheeled around behind his desk and picked up the white telephone he had there.  He got a phone book out of his desk and started with the churches on the yellow pages. “Hi. My name is Joey Drew.  I have some questions about what happened to my nieces twenty years ago.  Have you folks ever performed exorcisms?”

  
  


Bendy wasn’t surrounded by much in terms of background, but  there were some lines meant to be a counter in the alchemist’s workshop. He slipped behind it and tossed out junk.  Empty beakers. Lots of lead bars. And finally – alchemic diagrams.

H e glanced up. That demon, Henry’s dad, was still in the kitchen with him, washing the dishes and grumbling to himself in a language that Bendy didn’t understand.

Bendy read the diagrams.  Or he tried to.  Still, he got as far as reproducing a circular shape before a voice said,  _“Snduts xiiziiss, Bendy.”_

Bendy dropped the diagrams and ran away. He hid  inside a counter.

“Of course. If Henry made you, you require your instructions in English. Come out, Bendy.”

He grabbed onto the lip of the cupboard, but his legs moved by themselves. They carried him out and face-to-face with Caesar Ross’s demon form.  He trembled.

No! Not the time to show fear.

He smiled. He was still trembling.

Caesar threw back his head. “ He’s got a gift for comedy! I doubt he even made a golem on purpose, and he made one that mimics fear so well.”

B endy dove back behind the counter.

“No, stay out here until I’m done talking to you.”

He didn’t. Not until Caesar used his name.  Why did it have to be lettered on the poster?

Caesar was resting his elbow on the counter and leaning in. “ I doubt he would tell me all that’s going on with him, so I’m going to get the information out of you instead. What has my son been doing lately?”

S tupid demon. Stupid, stupid demon! He’d seen how his dad had acted toward him. Did he think he was going to betray him like that?

Bendy beckoned Caesar closer. When Caesar leaned in, he beckoned him closer still. He leaned forward and blew a raspberry in Caesar’s face.

Caesar recoiled, so Bendy giggled.

Caesar bared his fangs.  “ I suppose the immaturity would be amusing to some.”

A nd with that, Bendy was back to trembling. He could see the word  _chatter_ moving away from him. That was his teeth, wasn’t it? He covered them with his hands.

Caesar tapped a claw against the counter. “Tell me what my son’s been up to, Bendy.”

Bendy’s mouth moved, but no sound came out.  When he was done, he grinned – he’d told Caesar, but he hadn’t gotten a word of that, had he?

G rumbling, Caesar went into another room. When he came back, he had a pen in his hand.

Bendy ran away from it, but Caesar was still drawing lines on the paper.

It was just a speech bubble.

“Tell me again, Bendy.”

H e kept an eye on the speech bubble,  and as his mouth moved, words scrawled within that space:  _He’s been using magic and making deals. I don’t think all the magic’s been on purpose…._ The bubble proceeded to tell Caesar all that Bendy had seen Henry do, and when he could finally stop  talk ing, it disappeared.

C aesar shook his head. “He’s not getting any better, is he?”

Bendy narrowed his eyes,  but before he could shout anything at Caesar, the doorbell rang.  Caesar picked Bendy’s paper off the  counter and carried him to the door. “ That’s probably Henry.  Each time I see you again, Bendy, you will report on everything you’ve seen  him do since the last time you reported, and you will conceal this conversation from him.”

It was in fact Henry. Bendy greeted him with a _Dad!_ and a mimed hug.

H enry paled. He took the paper anyway.

“You should be more careful with your property. Especially if you’re going to put any of its names right there on its paper. Someone could use your golem against you.”

B endy wanted to tip his dad off about  what Caesar did , but his lips wouldn’t move and his head wouldn’t nod. Tears streaked down his face instead.

His paper was crinkling and crumpling in Henry’s hand. His claws were out, threatening to tear Bendy’s paper. “He’s not property.  I brought him to life.  He is my creation. It doesn’t-  It might not make him my son, but it doesn’t make him property either.”

He was bluffing, right? He had to be bluffing.

Bendy slipped under Henry’s fingers and put his hand to the spot where he touched the paper. His skin was warm as ever, and Bendy liked to think he could feel his cool ink against it. He could, right?  If he couldn’t be out there giving his dad hugs, this was the next best thing.

“ Life? That’s a golem. They’ve got the illusion of being as alive as you want them to be, but they’re just shaped matter that act through your magic. It can move around, but it’s only as intelligent as any car.  Did you think you could create life by accident? ”

H enry’s claw pierced the paper.

B endy moved as far from the claw as he could while still keeping a hand on Henry’s finger.  _ Dad? _

He doubted Henry saw it – Henry was g azing over the top of his paper.

“ Ask  _ Lnmya _ what a golem is. He’ll tell you the same thing.”

“ I will.”  They finally left,  but Henry didn’t speak to Bendy until he was in front of a blue sign that indicated a bus route.  They were alone,  and Henry looked at the damage to the paper first. “ Fix yourself.”

T he paper did.

Henry took a breath. “Is it true?  Is your life an illusion?  My magic doesn’t have power over life and death  _ by accident? _ ”

B endy didn’t like the tone – warm, hopeful.  He hiccoughed. He wiped his eyes so Henry wouldn’t see him crying.

H enry wiped  Bendy’s eyes. “ I’m sorry. That was insensitive. You are alive, aren’t you?  And you can talk now? ”

H e nodded.  _ Ya promised you’d protect me! _

“ Oh no. What did my dad do to you?”

B endy couldn’t tell him.  All he could say was he wanted his name off the poster.

H enry blotted it out when they got back to the studio, where Bendy distracted himself by experimenting with alchemy circles.  After several hours, he lost his patience with it.  _ Come on, you’ve got ta be good for something. It says right here ya can change base metals to gold,  so  change a base metal to gold already! _

The circle shot out squiggly lines that died off. Bendy looked around his paper. It looked like it had done nothing at first, but when Henry picked up a sketching pencil, he couldn’t get it to work.

Its graphite had turned to gold.

  
  


Henry  slipped Bendy into his bag. “ I’m going to get a used car today.  You’ll be able to look out the window if you want to. No more  hiding while we’re on the bus. And then I’m going to see if we can stay in my apartment.  I hope  that broken doll means the spiders won’t be a threat anymore. Sound good?”

Bendy nodded.

Smiling, Henry closed his bag. He was just heading out  when he ran into Dewey.

Dewey  held his cross and a beaten up package out in front of him. “Don’t you try nothing! I’m here as the liver. I’m looking for that spider of yours.”

“ What do you want with Joey?”  Henry folded his arms. Could he get fangs now? It would be a great time for fangs.

H e didn’t know if he got them or not, but Dewey started sweating. “ I got a passage.  He sent his kid a  licey birthday gift.”

“ I’ll give it to him. Get out.” He snatched the package from Dewey and  stayed to glare at him until he ran away.  When he got to Joey’s office, Joey was scratching something  in a notebook.

H enry knocked.

Joey snapped the notebook shut and dropped it in his bag. “Henry! Come in.”

Henry set the package on Joey’s desk. “How do you know Emilio Capitani?”

Joey grumbled something.

“What was that?”

Joey hung his head. “When I told you you’re my only family, it wasn’t quite true.”

He thought he got it. “Are you the kid’s father?”

Some guts he had, wooing a mobster’s wife.  Or so Henry thought, until Joey told him the full story – from the time he met Erica  Drago in a coffee shop to Erica’s family insisting she marry another Italian  and marrying her off to Emilio Capitani while she was pregnant with Joey’s child.

H enry circled around the desk to set his hand on Joey’s shoulder and give him his condolences.

J oey  ended by looking away. “It doesn’t matter. I lost them.  I’m losing you too.”

“ What? How? Do you have any idea what I had to do to get you human again?”

H e mumbled that he had some idea, but Henry barely heard him – the yellow pages had caught his attention.  They were turned to a section full of churches, and with every listing that mentioned exorcisms, the word  _ exorcisms _ was circled.

H e bolted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:
> 
> An inky new life.
> 
> Question:
> 
> Is Caesar to blame for all of this, or do the other characters have some of the fault too?


	15. In Which it was Just a Theory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last time:
> 
> Joey tries a new approach to figure out what's going on with Henry in calling exorcists to ask questions. Henry goes back to Caesar's to get Bendy, who Caesar give a way to speak so that he could spy on Henry for him. Henry delivers a package for Joey and gets scared when he realizes he's calling exorcists.

Joey called after Henry, but he didn’t come back. He knew he couldn’t catch him, so he’d have to calm him down later, after he had some good news for him.

After a moment to stew, Joey examined the package from Emilio Capitani. It was taped shut inside the box he’d used to send Luther’s present, and it weighed the same as the book. He’d probably sent it back. There may be a few pictures with it again of Emilio showing of how good of a life he was giving Erica and Luther. He couldn’t be a bigger jerk if he came out and said, ‘Look what I have that you never will.’

Joey pushed the package aside so he wouldn’t have to see it. Then he threw himself into his work for Henry. He stayed late, contacting every church in the phone book. He finally got a hold of the priest who’d exorcised Susie and Allison after dark, but he learned nothing except that the church was scared that the demons could possess the corpses too and gave his sister religious symbols to bury with each of her daughters.

He was still muttering about Caesar Ross and how strongly he must have bonded demons to his children when he rolled into his apartment. He locked the door behind him and went in to the Ink Machine.

When the Storyteller appeared on the display, Joey brought him up to speed. “I am concerned about Henry got my true name, but I can’t abandon him.”

The Storyteller crossed his arms. “And you kept letting him use magic? It sounds like he’s gotten himself in real trouble now. How am I supposed to tell Henry and Linda?”

Joey set his forehead to the cool metal. “I know. The priests thought his sisters’ demons had a strong enough hold on them that it would last after their deaths. I want to confirm how much of a grip Henry’s demon has on him, and I need your help. Aren’t you concerned about him?”

“Joey.”

He lifted his head. The Storyteller was pressing his hands to the display.

“Yes?”

“You can’t keep making excuses for someone you love when it will just get them in more trouble down the road. I can help you check if there’s anything left of him to save, or if his demon’s impersonating him at this point, but if the only way we can save him is to get him exorcised, you’ve got to do it.” The Storyteller gestured inside the Ink Machine. “We can bring him here too if we need to.”

He had a point, but Henry had just gotten his dreams back. Besides, Joey didn’t want to get him murdered if he could be saved some other way. “It might still be there’s something else going on with Henry.”

The Storyteller rocked his chair forward. “Is there something specific you suspect, or are you just hoping there is another explanation?”

“I still haven’t found that book.”

“Answer the question.” The Storyteller sat there and drummed his fingers until Joey scooted away from the Ink Machine. At that point, he straightened up. “There’s nothing?”

There had to be something. “I want to call Henry. There’s something I want to confirm with him. Wait here.”

Joey left the display running as he went to use his phone. When he had Henry, he asked him again if he was sure there was only one entity inside his body.

Henry whispered something.

“What was that?”

“My apartment’s still covered in spider webs. I’m cleaning them up, but I’m trying not to attract attention if anything’s still here.”

The line went quiet, but there would be shouts if anything had gone wrong. Joey rubbed the back of his neck. The spider attack. Right. “I can’t ward your apartment against demons in general as long as there is one inside of you, but I can try to make one that will keep most demons out.”

“It’s just me, Joey.”

Helpful, but not. He cursed. “What makes you so sure of that?”

Henry’s volume increased to a normal level, but then his voice trailed off.

Joey pressed the phone to his ear. “Is there something there with you?”

“What’s this about?”

He cursed his own stupidity. No, he shouldn’t have gone diving into what happened with the twins right away. He should have tended to Henry and his safety first. “Are you in trouble?”

Henry hummed. “I don’t see anything in the room with me, but I know I have enemies. I don’t know who to trust right now.”

At least that wasn’t a sign of immediate danger. Joey made a fist. “Do you need me to come over there? Or better yet – stay at my place for a bit. It’s already got safeguards in place.”

“No!”

No?

Henry’s breath crackled over the phone. “I mean maybe. Were you calling exorcists-”

“Not for you. I’m doing everything I can to help you here. Everything short of getting you exorcised straightaway. I need you to give me something to work with. How is it you’re sure you’re not possessed? Or how is it you know my true name?”

“I- I met someone with a copy of _The Illusion of Living._ It confirmed that what my dad told me is going on is possible. I’m not possessed.”

A gain with the being helpful, but not. “ What is going on?”

“I can’t tell you.”

J oey tapped his armrest. “Why not? Do I need to examine you for curses again?”

“No, it’s- you really don’t have any idea what I went through to make you human again.”

J ust what he needed. Henry’s lips sealed on something so important.

“Could you get me that copy of _The Illusion of Living?_ ”

T here was  a yelp on the other end.

“Henry?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Henry.”

Henry grumbled. There was a moment’s pause, and when he spoke again, his words were garbled. “I just cut myself on my own claws.”

S hould he hang up now and go check on him? Maybe bring better protections along with him this time?

“Are you still there?” Henry asked.

Joey supposed he didn’t know yet how the protections would affect Henry. “ Is there anything else you can tell me to help you?”

T here was a strange sort of sound, something like a choke or a chuckle. “ If I’m not  a guy who’s been possessed, what else do you think you might be helping?”

H onestly, Joey had never heard of an exorcism turned deadly before if there wasn’t a demon involved.  “ My nephew.” He paused, thinking through all the supernatural stories he remembered his dad telling him. He came up blank. “A hint.”

H enry laughed. Loud. If there was anything else over in his apartment with him, it probably knew about him by now.  Joey tried to get his attention, but Henry ignored him until his fit had died down. “Your nephew? Yeah, I am that.  A hint?”

“If it only takes one. Whatever this is, this is unusual, but I’m not giving up on you.”

“Thank you. See you at work.”

H e was supposed to give him something he could pass along to the Storyteller!  But no, the call clicked and Joey’s phone beeped that noise supposed to get his attention that the phone was off the hook. He tossed it back on,  swearing loudly. “There’s got to be something. I don’t want  to see if it kills you too.”

He sat there, glaring at his knees. A nearby clock ticked off a hurry. An explanation? No. A hint? Henry couldn’t be bothered with that either. Simple confidence that there was something else to find? It would have to do. When he wheeled back into the closet, the only thing he had to offer was a question: “Any way you can help me observe what’s going on with him?”

T he answer could have been a no. Joey half-expected a no.

What he got was the Storyteller nodding. “ You’ll have to move the Ink Machine and get some extra wards, but sure, I can help you get this thing set up to get you a better picture of the demon possessing Henry.”

  
  


N ow that Henry had his own car again, he drove it to work. He set his briefcase in the passenger’s seat, secured but open so he could talk to Bendy during the commute. Sure, he could only get Bendy’s half of the conversation at red lights, but  at least he could bounce ideas off someone how to tell Joey without telling Joey – if the conversation they’d had the night before meant he was safe to do so.

W hen he got to work, the lot was almost full again.  This time, it was because a truck was taking up several stalls by the entrance.  Two muscular men were carrying that machine he’d  smelled in Joey’s apartment, and Joey himself was parked on the sidewalk, calling directions to the elevator. “It goes up on the third floor. Just set it in the hall – I’ll make the maintenance staff move it when we’re ready to install it.”

“We’re here, buddy. There’s something going on. I might take you to see something later, but I’ve got to find out what it is and what it’s doing here first.”

B endy grinned at him.  _What?_

“Tell you later.” Henry closed his briefcase and brought it from the car. He caught up with Joey as he reached the elevator.

“Henry, just in time! I have something I want to show you.” Joey clasped Henry’s hand. “Did you get your spider problems sorted out?”

H e smiled. “Yeah, I did.  About last night,  I couldn’t think of a good hint.”

“You can’t just tell me.”

H e shook his head.

“You want me to figure it out, and you’re trying not to lead me down the wrong path by mistake.”

H is lips were heavy. He couldn’t keep the corners up.  Instead, he pulled his hand away from Joey and rubbed the back of his neck. “ I can help you move that machine around. I’m sure I’m strong enough to lift it.”

J oey peered at him. “Is that supposed to be a hint?”

“No.” The elevator let them out, and Henry circled around the Ink Machine. “What’s this doing here?”

“It’s going to examine the magic that’s been going on around you.”

H e froze. Could this thing tell Joey what he was? “ How?”

H is stomach churned.

“What? You’re looking green.”

H e’d forgotten. He’d told Joey he wouldn’t question how he was trying to help him as long as Joey didn’t send him to an exorcist. Apparently, that counted as a demon deal.

His palms were sweating. He stuck them in his pockets. “Never mind.  Different question. How does magic work?”

W as there anything about demon magic he could use to test Joey?

Joey blinked.  He pressed his lips together until they turned pale.  His eyes were on Henry’s face. “ Shouldn’t you know?  How did you learn my true name if you don’t know something like that?”

“My d- My method didn’t require I know much about magic.”

H e watched Joey’s face. Would that be a strange answer for a human?  He didn’t know much about any of this magic or demon stuff, but he couldn’t see humans being able to access someone’s true name by sucking on their sweet, chocolat e soul.

J oey paled. “You’re drooling.”

Henry wiped his lips. “ Sorry.”

H umans were – and Henry hated to admit this – but humans were delicious.  If he were in Joey’s position, well, he’d be worried about being eaten too.  Last night had some promise, and here he might have to wipe Joey’s memories already.

B ut Joey wasn’t leaving yet. He wasn’t wheeling off. He wasn’t even pushing the call button for the elevator. Was he going to give him a chance?

Time to look  as  harmless as possible.  Henry sat himself on the floor; scooted back into the Ink Machine, where a paper with Demontongue on it made him uncomfortably warm; and wrapped his arms around his legs. “ You already knew souls smell like food to me of course, but  I don’t want to eat anybody.  I’m keeping myself fed so I’m less tempted.”

J oey scooted forward.  His shoes brushed up against Henry’s legs.

T heir eyes met.

“Allergies,” Joey mumbled. “Wasn’t able to clean the back of this thing, so moving it got dust everywhere.”

T he air was a bit stuffy, being  that  they were in an old building without its AC up to current standards, and they weren’t around any  open windows either. But there wasn’t any dust.  There wasn’t any reason for Joey to be wiping tears from his eyes unless there was something he wasn’t telling Henry.

“I swear I won’t tell anyone you were crying. What’s wrong?”

“I told you. Allergies.” Joey reached for some controls over Henry’s head.

H e couldn’t help but remember the story of the girl who’d been rejected by her own mother.  It wasn’t that, was it? That Joey was mourning the relationship with  the perfectly-human nephew that he thought he had?

P lease don’t make him have to wipe Joey’s memory.

He put a hand on Joey’s knee. “ I know I’m not what you were expecting,  but  my mother was human.  I got enough humanity from her to care that you’re my uncle. I can be good.”

J oey glanced at a display. His eyes lingered for a moment. “ Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Henry glanced around, but it was just the two of them and the Ink Machine.

“I heard it. It’s an unlikely story. There have only been five recorded instances of human-demon hybrids. But humans who have been duped into thinking they’re part demon, those are more common.”

T he voice came from directly above Henry’s head. He jumped. He bumped his head on the machine. “Ow!” He rubbed his head. “ I s someone else here?”

P lease don’t be an exorcist.  He  squeezed himself between the machine and the wheel of Joey’s chair. Joey caught his arm. “ You’re fine.” He gestured to the machine. “Henry, this is my dad.”

H enry caught a whiff of fresh-baked chocolate pudding pie.  It rested in his nostrils.

O n the display was a black-and-white Toon in a rocking chair. Only based off smell, Henry knew better. That, and he’ d kn own Joey Drew Sr was dead  anyway .

He hid his watering mouth behind his free hand. “ Summoning spirits? Joey, have you been doing magic?”

“Does he look like a spirit to you?”

O h, please. Henry pulled his arm free to put both hands on Joey’s shoulders. “ You have got to stop using magic.  It’s-”

He couldn’t say that.  He supposed he shouldn’t be  allowing work on that new Alice Angel episode either. Too bad. Someone needed to know what was going on.  He swallowed.

Joey stared at him.  “ You’re scolding me for using magic?”

“Yeah. You want me to stop? You could try not setting a bad example for me.”

“I haven’t been doing magic lately.”

H ow bad was it for a human when there wasn’t a demon deal involved?  Was it relatively harmless? Addicting? Or could it be flat-out dangerous?  How could it be harmless if they had to speak demon language to pull magic off? “ You should tell me how it works sometime,  magic .”

“Demons,” Joey grumbled. “It’s all demons. And angels, I guess, but you don’t want to be exorcised.”

“Of course he doesn’t want to be exorcised, but I don’t know if we can still save him. Go call someone in now.”

H enry tensed.

Joey was looking at him. “But his eyes-”

“Don’t wait for the color to change – that’s how we’ll know he’s gone!”

J oey spun his wheel back hard. “ Stay here !”

“Rootsword, stop! You stay here!” The words were out of Henry’s mouth before he could think.

J oey was shaking so badly Henry thought he might have a seizure.  He put one hand on a wheel and another hand on that hand, as though he were going to try to force himself to leave.

“It might be too late. Don’t let him eat you. Get to hell. I’ll pull you out.”

H enry clenched his fists. “I’m not hurting him!”

His voice deepened and echoed off the walls.  He flinched.  He held his hands out in front of him. Red. Clawed. He made himself open them up. “ Non- terrifying  appearance .”

H is hands returned to looking human.  He  used a finger to beckon toward Joey’s office. “Chair.”

A  chair came zipping out into the hall. He caught it and took a seat. “ I’m sorry for using your true name.  I  want you to go free  _after_ I’ve had my say, Rootsword, and if it lets you see me for who I am, I absolutely agree to you removing  that name from my mind.”

“You don’t know my true name! Forget it!”

W as it gone? Henry did say he could remove it, but he did have a condition for it. “ Rootsword.”

J oey flinched.

“I want to know if I’m being treated fairly. Would that be unreasonable if I were a full demon?”

J oey looked over his shoulder.  Henry didn’t know what he was looking for, but he took his hands off his chair. “What do you want?”

“I want to keep being part of this family.” He scooted to the edge of his chair. “You’re the only living relative I have left. That _mon_ _ster_ doesn’t count. I disown him.”

J oey pressed himself to the back of his chair. “ This probably changes noting, but w hen Caesar and I went to rescue him, Caesar said something very strange.”

H enry nodded. “ What he did to you, that was unacceptable.  You know I’d never do anything of the sort.”

B ut Joey didn’t spare Henry so much as a glance. “ I’d thought Caesar was possessed, but you say such a thing is possible? Can demons look human without possessing one?”

“Yes, but it’s rare that they can have children with us in that state.”

H e wiped his hot palms.  He had to know. But how? He guessed, technically, he hadn’t agreed not to ask hypothetical questions. “ And if he is a demon, what would that make me? Would you be scared?”

I t worked. Sort of. Joey wasn’t cringing away from him anyway, even if he was still trembling and his fingers were back under his eyes. “Is there a way to check?”

“His signature. I’ll help set it up, then I’ll get a Toon ready for him.”

T he Ink Machine started humming.  Henry turned his chair so he could peek at it, but it wasn’t doing anything he could see. “ Joey, what’s going on?”

“We’re going to help you out. Go clock in. Draw Bendy. Or whatever you want to draw. Have some fun. Just don’t use magic.”

W hat was a little sickness if things were so serious? Henry braced himself for a round of nausea. “ What will this helping me look like?”

T he nausea never came.  Henry knocked his seat over. “I thought we had a deal!”

J oey buried his eyes. “ I don’t know if I’m calling an exorcist yet.”

“You are thinking about exorcising me!”

H e snapped his head up. “I don’t want to. Do you think I want my only family to die? No!  I’m going to set that thing up to see if you might be an actual hybrid first, but then….”  He hung his head. “ If we exorcise you, at least you’ll keep your soul. If we don’t, you might stop existing at all. At what point do you want to be exorcised?  If you’ve been feeding that demon, y ou’re so close to being gone forever. ”

C aesar had been telling the truth lately as far as Henry could tell,  but weren’t the best lies the ones that were mostly true? Yes, but  there were a few things that didn’t add up. And besides, why should he have to die  for Caesar’s actions? “ You knew my true name.  I can tell you that one. It’s Xnmr.  You used it to ask me to show my true form that one time, and this was it. My human self.”

J oey looked to the Ink Machine.

“Did you use demon magic to get my true name? How easy was it?”

H e was just going to listen to his dad, wasn’t he?

H enry plopped in his chair.  He hadn’t meant to sit down. “ Once I knew how to do it?”

“There have been accounts of people who witnessed demons doing this. They took an infant, learned its true name, and said to it, ‘your soul will treat the demon’s true name as if it was your own.’ It’s been used to provide the victims solid proof that they are a demon, even as the young demon inside them slowly consumes their soul.”

T hat was crazy.  But from what  Henry understood, it might work. He  trembled . “But why wouldn’t the  demons eat the infant’s soul right away?”

“You’d have to ask a demon and trust it to tell you the truth. But there does seem to be a pattern to it – no living possession victim gets their soul eaten in one go.”

Joey reached for Henry’s arm.  But he said nothing.

He  knew why. He hated the idea  too . But he was out of options.  “ You have a way of checking what I am?”

“Over there.” Joey pointed to the Ink Machine. “If you are possessed, Xnmr, stick around and let us get you exorcised. I promise you won’t let you go through it alone. Dying. Or being pulled out of hell and given an inky new life in there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:
> 
> Melting.
> 
> Question:
> 
> Is this where Toon!Henry comes from?


	16. In Which Bendy Melts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last time:
> 
> The Storyteller talks Joey into considering exorcism for Henry, but Joey wants him to help him watch Henry to be sure of what’s going on first. The next day, he brings the Ink Machine to Joey Drew Studios and Henry hints that he might be part demon. The Storyteller thinks Henry’s been duped about that.
> 
> Choose Your Ink Endings Used:
> 
> 241
> 
> Cheat Path:
> 
> 1 Know you've got to turn on the Ink Machine in the other room.  
> 2 Climb the chains.  
> 3 Roll a 3 or 4.  
> 4 Look through the records.  
> 5 Look on the upper levels.  
> 6 Make a wish.  
> 7 Roll a 5 or 6.  
> 8 Search the studio.  
> 9 You haven't seen Boris lately, so you can click on the correct link.
> 
> 128
> 
> Cheat Paths:
> 
> 1 Know you're Henry.
> 
> Version 1 of 4:
> 
> 2 Walk to the exit.  
> 3 You may either talk to Sammy or let him pass.  
> 4 Go open the gate.  
> 5 Suggest disguising Bendy.  
> 6 Roll a 1 or 2.
> 
> Version 2 of 4:
> 
> 2 Climb the boards.  
> 3 You may either fall through the floor or respawn on purpose.  
> 4 Go open the gate.  
> 5 Suggest disguising Bendy.  
> 6 Roll a 1 or 2.
> 
> For Versions 3 and 4:
> 
> 2 Walk to the exit.  
> 3 Talk to Sammy.  
> 4 Drink some soup.  
> 5 Have Sammy show you what he meant by "outside."  
> 6 Think your message was about living worthy of the chances you're given.  
> 7 Take Sammy's place.
> 
> Version 3:
> 
> 8 Look for an exorcist.  
> 9 You haven't found a letter written to Joey, so you can click the correct link.  
> 10 Follow the link.
> 
> Version 4:
> 
> 8 Look for a way to purify Bendy's ink.  
> 9 You haven't been told you're a Toon, so you can click on the correct link.  
> 10 Dilute Bendy's ink.  
> 11 Hurry with the acetone.  
> 12 Follow the link.

Joey followed the Storyteller’s directions to get a blood sample from Henry. A drop of it was put inside the ink machine, and the rest he painted inside a pentagram on a nearby wall.

Because it might be the last time he saw Henry alive, when he sent him off, it was with a hug. While Henry went to spend some time with Bendy, Joey kept himself posted at the Ink Machine, monitoring the readings. “If he is possessed, how long do you think he has left?”

The Storyteller shook his head. “We can’t put it off any longer.”

He was out of his chair, down on what counted as an inky floor, next to the elder Henry Stein, who was sticking his tongue out at simulated paper.

Henry held up his drawing. “Can you work with Woolly?”

“Yes, that’s fine.” But the Storyteller wasn’t looking at Henry’s work. He was looking out from the display and pointing to the readings. “Have they loaded yet?”

They said _subject locked_ , but they also said that it hadn’t found the magic yet.

“If my grandson does turn out to be part demon, what are you going to do?” Henry was staring out of the display, moving in front of the Storyteller, who was busy at work in the background.

J oey’s brow twitched. “What do you mean?”

“This body-” Henry gestured down at himself. “-came with all sorts of predatory instincts, and it’s just a cartoon character. I’m fine on my own, but get anyone else around and be at a time I’ve forgotten who I am…. I just think it might be hard on Henry.”

“I know. How bad do you think it is for half-demons? What does that mean for him?”

T he Storyteller waved his hands and pointed to the readings. “We’ve got a lock!”

According to the display, the magic source was temporarily unstable, and  the readings  themselves weren’t clear yet – they only said there was something demonic in the Art Department.  Even the image it was forming was a tall black, dripping smudge with a cartoon grin….

“What does it mean?”

There was a  _creak_ as the Storyteller rocked back. “ It’s probably some representation of this machine processing the demon’s powers. They might be inaccessible to  it for an hour, tops. The image should tip off any full demon to that and scare it badly.”

“And if he’s not?”

“You said he’s been having trouble with magic. He shouldn’t understand what it is he’s looking at.”

  
  


H enry  had a separate piece of paper sitting on top of Bendy’s,  and he was scratching in a wet nose with his pen. “It’s not just demons I’m worried about.  There are plenty of bad people out there, and you’re just a kid. If something happens to me, I want someone to look after you.  You should probably have parents anyway – a mom and a dad. ”

B endy gave him a look, but no speech bubble appeared near him.

He finished by giving his latest creation a scowl and a  description: Gang Member 1.

_Can’t you just give me to Joey?_

Henry glanced around. Was anyone listening?

Over under the pipes, Buddy Lewek  was staring at him. He swallowed. “Hey, Buddy. Joey’s installing some sensitive equipment today, and I didn’t see any tools around. Why don’t you see if he needs anything?”

B uddy slipped from the room, but he kept his eyes on Henry on his way out. When he’d gone, Henry leaned into the paper. “Joey doesn’t like demons.  Sorry, kiddo, but he’s one of the people I’m hiding you from.”

_But we helped him!_

“I know. Tell you what – how about I see if I can draw you a friend.” Henry made up a quick story about the gang member harming a child as he made a design based of Luther Capitani and named it Andrew Barlos.

E ven before Henry finished, Bendy ran into the edge of his paper and bounced off. He put a hand to the side and gazed at Andrew.  _I know how he feels, having parents who don’t want him. He’s a lot like me._

“No, no. When I draw you parents, they’ll want you. Just let me bring your friend to life and I’ll draw them.” Henry leaned in. “Wake up, Andrew. Say hi to your friend Bendy.”

The drawing remained still.  Henry prodded it with the back of his pen. “Andrew Barlos?”

The door slammed open. “Mr. Stein, Mr. Drew needs your help!”

Henry drew some stick figures on Bendy’s page. “I’m sorry.”

He pretended not to notice as Bendy was left calling after him, _Dad!_ He ran from the Art Department, up the stairs, and to the Ink Machine. “Is everything okay?”

J oey pointed to the Ink Machine’s display. “ We don’t know. Does that mean anything to you?”

I t was split in half. On the right was a cartoon version of Joey Drew Sr.  sitting in a rocking chair and an Alice Angel restraining a Scratch that was growling threats against him. On the right was a backdrop, a sketched wooden hallway covered in ink.  There was a note placed next to a puddle.  _Bendy, if you ever come back, I live at 321 Cel Street. Come find me. - Henry_

“What is that supposed to be?”

J oey glanced at the Storyteller.

He rocked back. “ There was a malformed  cart oon  demon on that side.”

“Bendy? He... melted?” Henry touched a trembling hand to the display.

N o one answered him. He turned just in time to see Joey, Joey Sr., and Alice glancing at each other.  Joey fidgeted with his collar. “ I’ve got to make a few calls, then I’ll come and wait here with you.”

H enry nodded and lounged next to the machine, but as soon as Joey closed his office door, Henry sprinted for the stairs.  He raced to the Art Department,  shoved Bendy’s paper into his briefcase, and raced  to his car.

E very car on the way  to the cemet e ry held an exorcist. Every shadow a demon.  Every honk was a siren, coming for him.  Every whiff of  a passerby was the tempting prize of his own soul for his demon.

H e bolted to the twins’ grave and scanned  his surroundings. There was a couple walking away from a grave nearby and a little old lady sitting on a bench on the other side of the cemetery.

T he pentagram on the headstone was still there, and he traced it with his fingers.  He muttered everything that had happened lately to his sisters. “I know what Joey said, but I can’t go through with it. I really hope you two are alright.”

H e knew he shouldn’t stay there – someone would come looking for him eventually – but he  sunk to his knees and sat as still as the statue of an angel a few graves over.  Only when something tickled up his leg did he move.

It was a spider. One of the demonic kind.

Henry crushed its head in. It turned to dust. “What do you know? I got it on the first try this time.”

“Pity. It was meant to be a gift for you. A token of peace.”

H e flexed his fingers. “Claws.”

Behind him was the living shadow from his apartment, showing straight white teeth in a grin without having a grin.  Ibta, right?

Henry got to his feet, keeping his eyes on Ibta the whole time.  “ What do you want?”

Ibta’ s shadow solidified, for lack of a better word. No, it wasn’t a solid – it made smoke. Like that of a ghost. Only thicker and darker. Black, not gray.  The difference was this shadow was in 3D.  It slithered next to him. “ Did you stumble across Larry Ruth’s pentagram by chance, or did you come because you were summoned?”

I t was months ago. Sure, Henry beat himself up several times for acting on an urge to go talk to his boss about a new setting idea he had, but was that what a summoning was meant to feel like?  He didn’t want to talk himself into remembering a version of events that wasn’t true. “I don’t know.”

Ibta circled him. “Ruth had plans to summon a  demon who’d be sympathetic to my cause. Of course, I wasn’t around to hear if he mixed up  _oorn_ and  _arn_ again.”

“Did you kill him?”

“No. I merely ruined his company, broke his heart, and left him penniless.” Ibta thickened enough that it – he? – had a face – not one with distinct eyes, but it had a strong browline and a gaping jaw. No, there were eyes under all that, just hard to see. “Am I still talking to the human?”

H enry growled.

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

H e grabbed at  Ibta with a bright red hand. “ Yes, you’re still talking to a human being. What of it?”

“I need underlings. Summon me another follower and I will give your demon a better vessel so you can go free.” Ibta offered Henry a hand.

He glared at it.

“You’ll keep your soul and your life. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

I t would be so easy. Say  _yes_ and take the deal and it wouldn’t be his problem anymore. His hand was itching to do it. But his eyes caught on his briefcase, where his tag listed his place of employment as  _Joey Drew Studios._ If he could go back to face his exorcism without a demon in him, what would he tell Joey happened to it?

How could he live with himself?

He crossed his arms.  “ I don’t think it’s worth cursing another human with this either.”

“I meant this vessel.” Ibta pointed at himself. Or rather, whatever entity was controlling Ibta had him point at himself. “It was human once. Its soul has already been eaten, so this is all that’s left. It comes with all the servant spiders a demon could ever want.”

T he hand was still there,  and Henry lowered his own hands to his lap. “If  I summon a demon for you, you’ll save my life and soul by transferring my demon into that? And you’ll protect me from the demon I summon? Is that the deal you’re offering?”

“Yes. Do we have a deal?”

H e still didn’t know what to tell Joey, but he could repair any rift it caused between them better alive than dead. “Deal.”

They shook on it. Ibta let him stow his briefcase in his car and led him to a park across the street and into the men’s bathroom, where it had him scratch a pentagram into the grimy tiles with his bare hands. He transfigured candles and other items he needed from the wood chips in the playground.

Ibta guided him through the ritual.  The flames rose – higher than they did for Ruth.  The smoke swirled into the center, and out stepped a demon. Six feet tall, poison-green skin, horns lining its face.

T hey spoke Demontongue,  Ibta and the new summon.  Henry couldn’t understand any of it, not even so much as picking out the words from that phrase sheet Joey made him a while back,  but whatever they talked about, the summoned demon sounded pleased.  It  snarled at Henry on its way out.

H e listened for a moment. Were there any screams coming from the park?

No. No sounds but a buzz from the light overhead.

Henry swallowed. “You were going to remove my demon?”

“Bring me a bit of sulfur.”

H e ran to get more  wood chips , but they wouldn’t transform for him.  He tugged the back of his hair. “ How do I do this? There’s got to be something I don’t understand about magic.”

As soon as he spoke, he realized – if he was going to not be possessed anymore, wouldn’t he have to pay the same price as anyone else for magic? He’d have to stop, but he’d made that deal.

Someone would have to release him,  probably Joey. Even with Joey’s need for family, would he still want him around after all this?

H enry took the wood chip  to his car. He sat in the warm driver’s seat and opened his briefcase. “Hey, Bendy. I need a favor. Can you change this to sulfur for me?”

B endy wanted an update, which Henry provided.  It left his teeth chattering.  _But ain’t I a demon?_

“Whatever you’re worrying about, stop. According to Caesar, you’re a golem, not a demon. And besides, you’re just a kid.”

_I- You told me you wanted me to help you keep your soul. I wanna be there with you to be sure you’re alright._

“And _I_ promised to protect you!” Henry shook his head. “It’s too dangerous. Buddy, getting me some sulfur will help me keep my soul. That’s the most you can do right now. Got it?”

B endy walked to  the lab cupboards and pulled out a book.  _I’ll see if there’s anything in here about sulfur. When am I gonna know you’re okay?_

“When it’s over, I’m coming straight back to the car. I’ll check in with you then.”

B endy frowned at Henry.

“Tell you what – we’ll make it a deal. You change this to sulfur for me, and when I’m myself again, I’ll come straight back here and show you that I’m okay.”

B endy raised an eyebrow at Henry. His mouth opened, letting out a single  _But-_ , but he closed it nodded, and offered Henry his hand.

Henry to uched a finger to it. “I’ll be back soon.”

I t took Bendy ten minutes to change the chip to sulfur and Henry less than ten to get back to the restroom in the public park.  He held the sulfur warm in his hand as  Ibta leaned toward him.

Something tickled his ear and forced itself in. He dropped the sulfur and reached for his ear.

Ibta caught his hand. “ You’re fine. The spider is separating your soul from the demon’s.”

There was a tearing notion in Henry’s chest. He supposed it could be the separation, but what a strange thought – a demon, having a soul.  If his mind wasn’t going fuzzy, he was sure he could formulate a question about that.

Ibta placed the back of its finger against Henry’s throat. “Come on out now.”

He relaxed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:
> 
> Cotton balls.
> 
> Question:
> 
> Why can’t Henry tell the wood chip to change itself into sulfur?


	17. In Which Joey Covers Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last time:
> 
> They set up the Ink Machine to monitor Henry’s magic, and Henry’s grandfather worries for him. Henry starts making preparations for Bendy in case something happens to him, but his magic is out for the hour. When it looks like Henry might really be possessed, he runs off to visit the twins’ grave instead of sticking around to be exorcised. At the grave, he makes another demon deal to remove a demon from his body.

Joey and the exorcist were asking around the Art Department if anyone had seen Henry when he heard the screams. Just down the hall in the Writing Department.

The exorcist ran ahead of him, but he was right behind. There was a shadow in the room, holding Buddy mid-air by his shirt. “Mr. Drew, I told you something strange was going on!”

The shadow spit a spider into Buddy’s face. It crawled up his nostril.

Joey swore and the priest tensed. “Language. I’ve got an exorcism to focus on here.”

He held the door and called for his employees to evacuate as the priest started chanting. The last one out was Henry, who pulled Joey from his chair and dragged him toward the stairs.

“Xnmr, stop!”

He stopped, but only long enough to fling the door open. Giggling girlishly, he pushed him down the stairs.

Joey tumbled. His back was bruised and his arms and face were stinging by the time he hit the wall.

Henry was nose-to-nose with him, and he grinned, revealing demon-sharp fangs. He opened his mouth, but it was a feminine voice that came out. “You still owe me, _summoner_.”

“Help!”

Buddy and the exorcist squeezed through the doorway. The exorcist immediately started chanting. Joey held Henry down. “I’m sorry.”

Henry writhed and screeched until a spider crawled from his mouth and he plopped onto Joey’s chest, still twitching.

“Look out!” Buddy shouted.

The spider was dashing toward the priest, but Buddy grabbed it. It escaped Buddy’s hand and forced itself into his mouth.

The exorcist turned his focus to Buddy.

While they were busy, Joey grabbed Henry’s arm and pressed a finger to his wrist. Henry was still warm, and there was a throbbing thump under the skin. He pulled his ear to his mouth. “Wake up, Xnmr.”

Henry didn’t. He just spasmed.

Buddy thundered down the stairs and pulled Henry off Joey.

The exorcist came walking behind Buddy and put a hand on his shoulder. He leaned toward him. “How would you like to live?”

The exorcist was possessed now. Great.

Joey shivered. “Buddy, run.”

Buddy jerked. The exorcist pushed him down.

Joey shook Henry. “Henry, help!”

The exorcist kicked Joey’s jaw. His teeth chomped down on his tongue, and his mouth filled with blood. Joey spat it out.

The exorcist knelt to Buddy’s level. “I won’t ask for your soul. I won’t ask you to hurt anyone. All I want is for you to come home with me. I’ve got a girlfriend waiting for you. Won’t that be nice?”

Buddy made a clumsy strike at the exorcist’s eyes, but it still made him flinch away. “I’m not leaving anyone behind for a demon. Mr. Drew, who needs more help out of here?”

“I’m still trying to wake him up.” Joey shook Henry harder, calling his name. The shadow slipped into the hall. Joey slapped Henry’s face. “Wake up! Just for a minute, then you can sleep it off. Help us out here.”

“But I don’t like cotton balls.” It was slurred, but it was Henry’s voice. It was close, but it wasn’t coming from Henry’s mouth. No, it was coming from the shadow.

Joey pulled up Henry’s upper lip. Inside, his teeth were still fangs. If Henry was in that shadow, no Xnmr was in his body, and yet, his body still had fangs, it meant he was a hybrid, didn’t it. “I didn’t say anything about cotton balls.”

The exorcist batted his eyelashes at the shadow. “You have two more in your mouth. Be a dear, Xnmr, and send them to the two meat bags down here.”

The shadow spat two spiders. They scurried down the stairs.

Joey didn’t know what else to try. It wasn’t like Henry’s true name wasn’t out in the open anyway, thanks to the other demon. “Get back in your own body, Xnmr.”

The exorcist made a grab at something. Joey shoved him away. Buddy got to his feet.

Henry gagged. He rolled off of Joey’s lap and spat on the floor.

Was there something in there?

Joey patted his back. “You okay?”

Henry yelped. He jerked away from the exorcist. “I’m not possessed anymore!”

The exorcist knocked Buddy out with a whack to the head. He grinned at Henry. “I know you’re not. Stay here and cover up the disappearances, Xnmr.”

Disappearances?

The shadow poked its head around in front of Joey. It opened its mouth.

Henry snatched the spider and crushed it under a claw. “Joey, what’s going on?”

“Don’t listen to a word she says, Xnmr. Be-” Something occurred to Joey. “Can you restrain him? And keep him from speaking?”

Henry wrestled the exorcist to the ground, shoving a fist in his mouth. The exorcist fought back. They stumbled. They thumped. By the time they were done, Henry was in his bright red form with horns and everything. Buddy was stirring. The stairway door was opening.

“Close the door. Give us a little privacy!” Joey said.

The door closed, but Joey didn’t know who it was down there or how much they’d seen.

Buddy lifted Joey up, and the two of them stumbled to the wall.

Henry looked there way. “Care to explain now?”

“Yes, yes. Buddy, stop. I’m going to have to explain things to you too. Maybe we should move this to my office?”

Henry growled. He pinned the exorcist to the wall. “No can do. First you call this guy in here for me, and then he starts using my name, and now you want me to restrain him. It’s all I can do to do that. What the heck?”

“You’re the one who ran off. You owe me an explanation too.”

Buddy’s arms were trembling. He dropped Joey on the stairs. “Sorry.” He offered him a hand. “Can you stand even a little?”

Henry started gagging again. He doubled over, losing his grip on the exorcist in the process.

The exorcist kicked him between the horns. “Don’t you prevent me from speaking aga-”

Blech! Something black and foul-smelling hurled from Henry’s mouth. It splatted against the floor and splashed on the exorcist’s robes. The exorcist scrambled back with a high-pitched _ew, ew, ew!_

J oey grabbed a round metal support for the handrail. “He’s possessed!”

“ I know.” Buddy tugged Joey up the stairs. “We’ve got to call in more help.”

T he exorcist bolted.  Henry ran out too.  Joey called after him, but he didn’t return.  Buddy pulled him through the door and got him back on his wheelchair.

Joey  mumbled a thanks.  He rolled toward the elevator. “Come with me.”

B uddy followed him. “Do you think they’ll be back here?”

Joey  leaned to push the close door button. His back ached. He closed his eyes  and let out a breath. He’d gotten lucky again, but had Henry?  Had Buddy? “ Are you scared?”

T he kid stuttered.

Joey gave him a light push. “What are you going to do about it?”

“ You don’t know anyone else, sir? I could call my mother, have her ask my grandfather what to do. He’s smart. He might know something.”

J oey knew magic wasn’t a good idea. Joey knew erasing Buddy’s memory was unethical. But what about Henry? “ No, I’ve got it.  You know what? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just forget about all this?”

“ Yes, but-”

“Great!” Joey clapped him on the back. “ Then what I need you to do is this: go find out who else is scared,  send them to me, and then forget all about the demons.  I’m going to see if I can find out where Henry went, then I’ll get him sorted out and get back to taking care of our new machine.”

“ Yes, sir.”

I t was now or never.  Joey felt a bit queasy – this was all his fault to begin with.  Summoning a demon. Not quite bringing himself to regret asking its help to learn what happened to Erica.  And now, misinterpreting the Ink Machine results and calling in an exorcist to almost kill Henry.  Endangering that exorcist and all his employees in the process.

Did Buddy deserve to have his memory wiped? No. But  Buddy was scared. And scared people?  Joey couldn’t risk them acting against Henry.

T he elevator chimed that they were down on the ground floor. Joey mumbled the  Demontongue he needed for the spell to take effect under his breath.

“What was that?” Buddy asked.

Joey shook his head. “Nothing. Just asking myself where I should look for Henry.”

In a few minutes, Joey was asking himself that  for real. He’d hoped he could catch Henry and the possessed priest out in the parking lot, but Henry wasn’t there. Neither was his car.

  
  


H enry  carried his briefcase  to the wood chips, where he swallowed  to keep down  the rest of his  breakfast and popped the lid open to see Bendy.  The sickness dispelled instantly.

H e hung his head. “Hey.  I’m okay now.  I’m sorry for everything I said about demons.”

Bendy was sitting with his back to the  _ A _ of  _ ALCHEMIST’S _ and hugging his knees.  _ Am I one or not? _

“ I don’t know, but you’re good. And so am I. It turns out, I wasn’t possessed.”

B endy pointed across the page. There was a puddle there with chunks lying in it and smell lines rising from it.  _ Can I get a mop? I worried myself sick. _

H enry swallowed. “I did tell you to help me keep my soul, didn’t I?  Using your true name. I’m going to release you from that, Bendy. I’m not in any danger from a demon inside me – I  am the demon.  I don’t see what reason Dad would have for lying about me being a hybrid anymore. Now if only -  ”  He stopped before he said Joey’s true name. It’s not that he didn’t trust Bendy with it, though he might have held it back from him anyway, as a courtesy to Joey, it’s that the name was no longer in his mind. He smiled. “Never mind. You know what? Joey does know what I am.”

W hen did Joey figure it out? Before he ran off on him?  Yes. Maybe. Something was up with that exorcist, and Henry hoped it was more than the exorcist getting possessed.

He planted his hand in his face. “This is my fault, isn’t it?  Getting someone possessed.  I gave that other demon permission to pull me from my body, and now she knows my true name.  You and I are going to have to go ask my dad for help.”

_ NO! _

The word formed before Henry could finish speaking.

He cursed himself. Sure, he needed Caesar’s help, but what was he thinking, bringing Bendy along with him?

_ Get Joey to help instead.  He didn’t chase you off or something, did he? _

“ Alright. But we find out how he feels about  _ my _ magic before introducing him to you.”  Henry tapped the puddle of sick and told it to vanish. It did.

He secured his briefcase, but he stopped by the men’s restroom before he left. It already had three smelly teenagers inside it, one filling a beer can with water from the sink, and another pouring water from his own can onto the pentagram and laughing. The third was scratching stars and circles into the walls and stalls with a pocket knife. Henry hurriedly retrieved the bit of sulfur and left, grumbling at the bathroom to repair itself on his way out.

He kept the sulfur in his pocket, just in case, and drove back to the studio. He opened the front door slowly and peeked inside.

H e didn’t remember how he’d gotten back here while he was possessed. It was all one big dream about  playing a game of tag while his mouth kept filling with giant cotton balls he needed to spit out.  All he could hope was that he didn’t let out any major secrets, or if he did, that they were only to Joey, where they were safe.

B ut there was no panic in the reception area – just a single receptionist reading a book behind the counter. Henry glided past her, straight for the elevator and up to the third floor.  That was empty as well, all but Joey’s office, where Joey was on the phone and saying something about a spider.  He caught his eye.

Joey gestured for Henry to  come in . “ I just want to make sure he’s okay. Things got pretty weird today.  If I were him, I wouldn’t be sure I could trust what my eyes and ears were telling me.”

That was a warning, wasn’t it? That the exorcist knew about him.

Henry shut the door behind him.  Now for a moment of truth. He changed himself into his more demonic form and met Joey’s eyes.

Joey gestured for him to take a seat and ended his phone call. “ Are you alright?”

H enry’s eyes caught on a purpling bruise on Joey’s face.  He swallowed. “ Can I use magic to fix the damage I did around here?”

“ What damage? You saved me and Buddy – don’t worry, he wanted to forget, so I took care of it for you.”  Joey backed away from his desk  and started navigating around it . “ You know, this half-demon thing really changes the way we’ve got to look at those accidents.  What do you say we  order pizza tonight and talk things over at my place? My treat.”

H e nodded, but he tensed and looked over his shoulder. “Joey, do you think there might still be spiders in here? That other demon knows my true name. Who knows what she’s going to do with it.”

“ I know.” Joey put a hand on his arm. “ Which is why  I want you in here until we can go to my safe, warded apartment.  Get your things. We’ll work together.”

H e did. He lingered in the Art Department only long enough to report and apologize to Bendy and sketch him a TV to keep him entertained for the next several hours.  The time was spent laughing and joking with Joey as they both tackled their workloads, loosening up and almost forgetting what was on the loose outside the studio walls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:
> 
> An unfortunate photo.
> 
> Question:
> 
> Are the trust issues over?


	18. In Which Henry Reads

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To celebrate the end of finals, I am updating both my current stories today. Enjoy!
> 
> Last time:
> 
> A possessed Henry returns to Joey Drew Studios, along with the shadowy being in which his sleeping soul is being stored. At the studio, an exorcist is waiting. The exorcist manages to remove the spider possessing Henry’s body without killing Henry, only for the exorcist to get possessed himself.
> 
> Together, Joey and Buddy survive an attack from the possessed exorcist and the spider-spewing shadow. Joey calls Henry’s soul back into Henry’s body, and with help from Henry himself, neutralizes the immediate threat of having an enemy in the studio who knows Henry’s true name.
> 
> Later, Joey shows Henry that he still accepts him as his nephew, despite knowing that Henry is part demon.

Bendy stared at the TV. Black and white flashed across it, showing him other cartoons.  Boris. Bendy grinned. Alice.  Bendy scooted closer. And Scratch, laughing maniacally as he lassoed Gutsy the Skeleton and pulled him back to hell with him. Bendy’s grin flattened. His dad said that the two of them, Bendy and his dad, were supposed to be good demons, but he was an animator for the same studio that produced Scratch. According to the studio, was Bendy supposed to be like Scratch too?

G lancing off his sheet of paper, Bendy saw nothing but the darkness inside his dad’s briefcase. How long was his dad going to leave him here this time?

Eventually, Bendy drifted off in front of the TV. In his dream, he stood in front of the mirror, but in the mirror, he was a lot taller, skinnier than he normally was. Ink dripped over his face and off his frame in general, leaving only a grin and a lop-sided bow tie to suggest who he was supposed to be.

He startled awake.

  
  


Joey let Henry stay in his spare bedroom that night, which he tried to make presentable by covering the marks in the carpet where the Ink Machine had been with a sleeping bag and neon-orange-cased pillow. With such short notice, there was nothing he could do about getting an actual bed or hanging anything on the walls to make the room less sparse. As it was, the only thing hanging on the otherwise plain white walls were the blue curtains covering the window; and the closest thing there was to furniture, apart from the sleeping bag, were the twelve magic book stacked in the corner.

“I’m happy to let you stay here,” Joey said, “as often as you’d like. I’m just going to have to save up to get a futon or something put in here.” As he picked up one of the magic books, he said, “I’m afraid the only decent accommodations I’ve got for you in this bedroom is a bit of reading material that may or may not contain answers to any questions you have about yourself right now.”

Henry walked over. Wide-eyed and smiling, he stopped next to Joey and held his hands out for the book. “Are there answers about what being half-demon means for me?”

Joey handed him the book. It was a hard-backed copy of  _The Summoner’s Guide to Demons_ .  But when Henry’s fingers wrapped around its sides, Joey didn’t let go. He bit his lip. “I’d expect that the most important part of you being half-demon is all that stuff I said about full demons doesn’t apply to you.  In this book is a lot of stuff about demon behavior and demon biology, but it can’t tell you wh at sort of person you are. Isn’t  who you are much more important than what you are ?  Now, you’re welcome to read anything you want, but if there’s anything that bothers you, I want you to come talk to me. ”

H enry smiled. He took the book, flipped a few pages, and ran his finger  from the book’s top to its bottom . “ Thank you.”  Turning to the book stack, he asked, “What else do you got?”

J oey bent forward to sort the books into piles.  He set aside two books written entirely in Demontongue, made a stack with four Demontongue reference and language-learning books, and placed the remaining f ive in their own stack.  On a second thought, he  removed one from that final stack:  _Collective Magic._ “I’ll have this back to you. I want to check if it says anything about hybrids and demon wards.  Luckily, you’d have to speak Demontongue for most of the wards here to have their full effect on you, but I can’t imagine the special ink I used to write them with is comfortable for you to be around.”

H enry shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. Better a little discomfort than getting you turned into a spider  or  being put to sleep in a living shadow again.”

True, but Henry was his nephew.  Wasn’t he supposed to keep him safe from even his own wards?

  
  


A s soon as Joey was engrossed in his book at the kitchen table, Henry shut the door.  He opened his briefcase and got Bendy out.

O n the page, the TV was smashed to bits, and Bendy was standing on pieces of its screen and shaking.

Henry touched a finger to Bendy’s arm. “What happened?”

Bendy wiped his face against Henry’s finger.  _Ya sent my concept art to be introduced to Joey Drew Studios, didn’t ya? Who did ya tell them I am?_

“A new friend of Alice Angel’s.” Henry glanced at Joey’s stack of books. Did he have anything about golems in there? “What’s this about?”

Instantly, a grin spread across Bendy’s face, pushing his cheeks up into his eyes. _Nothin’. Just a nightmare about the show._

“Uh-huh.” Henry grabbed the stack of four books that were in English and weren’t just language-reference books for Demontongue and laid them next to the book Joey first handed him. In addition to that guide to demons, there was a book called _Live Magic_ , a book called _Universal Magic,_ a book called _The Curse-Breaker’s Handbook_ , and _Theories of the Shaded World_. He picked up _Live Magic_ and showed it to Bendy. “If it’s something else, you can tell me. I think I have a good bet about finding something about golems in here.”

Bendy’s eyes widened. _Can you get me off this page? I HATE bein’ trapped in here._

“Sure.” Settling himself on the sleeping bag, Henry placed Bendy next to him and started reading. He made quiet comments to keep Bendy up-to-speed as he went along, but he found very little dedicated to golems in that book. Rather, the book had information about casting spells on living things and how much permission you had to get from which kinds of life to do what. Not one word was dedicated to bringing things to life, and the one reference he found to golems referred to them as having the illusion of living.

Henry kept the information to himself as he glanced down to check on Bendy, who was sitting, his arms folded across his knees and his head drooping. “Are you okay there?”

_Does no one believe I’m alive?_

“I do.” Henry patted Bendy’s horns. “I don’t know if we’ll find answers, but maybe we should read one of the other books. If we read that guide to demons, maybe we’ll at least have an idea of the limits of what either of us might or might not be able to do. Sound good?”

S howing a bit of teeth, Bendy lifted his head and nodded.  Henry wasn’t sure how long he was up reading with him. He only noticed when Joey opened the bedroom door just enough to slip  _Collective Magic_ into the room and call a goodnight,  but he kept reading.

  
  


W hen Joey got up the next morning ,  the guest bedroom’s light was still on. He peeked in and found Henry propped up against a corner, snoring softly with a book on his chest.  Chuckling, Joey turned off the light.

He retrieved the morning paper from the front door,  which he took to the kitchen and  perused over a bowl of cereal.  On the front page was some story about  a murdered  amusement park engineer named Bertrum Piedmont and the suspicion that the mafia was behind his death.  Grumbling, he read it.

Emilio had better not be teaching Luther to grow up to be like him.

The next few pages had various stories, and the one that caught Joey’s eye the mo st  was just a paragraph, a paragraph that  had  a picture of a pentagram carved above a urinal.  _LOCAL DRUNK TEENS WITH SATAN_ .

  
  


> Police arrested local teenagers yesterday who were caught carving pentagrams into a public restroom while drunk. The teens claim that they found a pentagram in the restroom when they entered, which disappeared before their eyes after they had consumed a few drinks, and they wanted to see if new pentagrams would vanish as well. One of the teens’ mothers is bringing her story to an educational group, Parents Against Demonic Imagery (PADI), after her son’s arrest. She points to the example of Animation Tent in its cult worship and Joey Drew Studios in its inclusion of demon characters as an instigator for teen delinquency.

  
  


“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Joey folded the newspaper so the article was on display and left it for Henry to find while he went to the fridge and got out the eggs.

W hen Henry got up an hour later, Joey gave him time to read the article. He set a plate of eggs in front of Henry and sat  near him.

H enry responded to the article by cursing and resting his head in his hand.

“I’m sorry. Now might not be the best time to introduce Bendy. Let’s get your magic under control so if PADI comes sniffing around the studio, no one will be onto you.”

H enry grunted, staring at the paper. When Joey slid it away from Henry, Henry’s eyes followed it.

Joey raised his eyebrows. “Is this anything more than a warning that we should be careful?”

Henry stared at his knees.  Why? This was a bunch of juvenile delinquents, wasn’t it? The pentagrams weren’t even that good, and it  wasn’t like there were black candles mounted to the wall.

“Do you know something about this?”

C losing his eyes, Henry said, “I did something stupid. While I was panicking about the exorcist, that demon you summoned found me. I let her trick me into summoning another demon.  Those boys found the pentagram I made.”

T ears dripped from his cheek.

Another demon? At least with the tears, Joey knew Henry regretted it, hopefully fully enough that the demon he summoned could be banished. “ If you see that demon again, tell that demon to go back to hell. Tell the universe that you no longer give the demon permission to be here. You’ll really have to mean it, but you do, don’t you?”

H enry nodded. But why wouldn’t he? He was tricked. If there was any summoner that would have an easy time vanquishing their demon, it would be one who was tricked like Henry.

“I’m sorry. You must think I’m pathetic, not regretting my summoning fully enough to get rid of my demon, and now she’s hurt you.”

R ubbing his head, Henry asked, “What are we going to do?”

If Joey thought Henry was capable of controlling his magic, he would ask him to hold it back so they could lie low, but look what that got them last time. The last thing he needed was a shadow and a horde of spiders attacking a defenseless demon hybrid again, even if he knew Caesar wouldn’t blame him for it. “ I’m not sure, but we’ll have to keep our eyes open at the studio. PADI might try to talk to us, and even if they don’t….” Joey swallowed. “I’m not entirely certain we’re the only ones at the studio who know about your other form.”

H enry nodded.

“I know it’s not much of a precaution, but if you could keep trying not to let your magic show openly, it will be that more safer for you. Of course, if something does happen with your magic, come tell me. I’ll understand.”

“I-” Henry went green. He looked away. “I’m not sure I can cut back on magic right now. Are there any books on how magic works from a demon’s point of view?”

N one of Joey’s books covered that. Not even the guide to demons. Of course they wouldn’t. They were meant for humans.  The only time the books even hinted at what could be a demon’s issue? When they warned summoners against summoning young demons, as young demons’ magic sometimes lashed out before a summoner could even offer the demon something a demon might want.  Joey’s hand was resting on his glass-top  table, which was cool under his hand and showed grease streaks as Joey made a fist. “ I can ask my dad if he’s heard of such a thing, but we might have to call your dad for help.”

H enry kicked the table. The resulting clatter knocked the paper to the floor. “Great.”

Joey knew he shouldn’t use magic. Joey knew he shouldn’t make deals with demons. But this was Henry, so this was different, wasn’t it? With him having found out so recently, Henry needed some assurance that Joey was there for all of him, didn’t he?  Joey stretched out his hand. “Tell you what.  You spend the week with me, practicing and learning about magic at my apartment, and you’re cautious about it at the studio.  You don’t do any there on purpose without talking to me first, and you report any accidents. In return, I’ll help you practice your magic, and I’ll spend all the time I can this week looking for a source to help demons with magic that isn’t your dad. If I can’t manage it, we’ll approach your old man together. Deal?”

F or a moment, Henry stared at Joey’s hand. Joey flexed his fingers. “Any counter-proposals?”

“You trust me enough to offer a deal?” Henry brought his hand up, though he didn’t put it in Joey’s.

“What sort of question is that? You’re you!”

S etting his fingers on Joey’s palm, he asked, “You trust my magic?”

“Not while you’re still having accidents, but I trust you to be a good person.”

S miling, Henry shook Joey’s hand. “Deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:
> 
> A trust betrayed.
> 
> Question:
> 
> Where is the demon Henry summoned now?


	19. In Which a Confidante is Like a Maze

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last time:
> 
> When Joey lets Henry stay over, Henry stays up late reading Joey’s magic books with Bendy. Bendy asks for Henry to find a way to let him off the page, but Joey reads a newspaper article that makes him nervous about Henry performing magic at his studio.

While Henry got ready for the day, Joey went to the studio early and turned on the display for the Ink Machine, where he asked for all the residents to gather together in the little black space on the screen. Linda, Luke, and the Storyteller came quickly, but Henry Sr. wasn’t around. Joey informed the adults that Henry Jr. was part demon while Luke was sent to look for his father.

Linda covered her mouth. “Is he okay? I don’t imagine a full demon would make a good father.”

“For several years, he did have his father in his life, but when he was a little older, Daisy left his father and took Henry with her. He’s relatively well-adjusted, other than some biological facts he has to deal with. I wanted to ask Dad if he knows of anything that could help him learn to handle his magic.” When Joey looked at the Storyteller, the Storyteller was rocking slowly in his chair. The Storyteller kept rocking, hand on his chin, and Joey wasn’t sure he’d even heard him. “Dad.”

Finally, the Storyteller looked up. “Hm? I was just trying to think of how our test got it wrong. He shouldn’t have known what the image represented.”

Joey felt a little sick. Would that have had anything to do with Joey telling Henry that the puddle used to be a version of Bendy? If Henry had been killed over being half-demon, it could have been his fault. The things that had happened, those were his fault.

On the display, Linda was circling behind the Storyteller. She patted his shoulder.

“You were saying?” the Storyteller asked.

“Something to help Henry with his magic.”

As the Storyteller’s chair creaked forward, there’s a frown on the Storyteller’s face. “I don’t know what to tell you. Of course I want to help the both of you, but there’s-”

“Luke?”

Luke was running onto the display, ears flopping behind him.

Soon after, Henry ran onto the display. “Get back here and tell me who’s responsible for another demon in _my_ territory!”

Luke hid behind Linda, who grabbed his hand. “Henry, do you remember who we are?”

“What do I have to do, fork you?” Henry – no, Scratch – reached behind his back and summoned a pitchfork.

“Henry, stop!” The Storyteller got to his feet.

Joey set his fingers on the display. “Uncle Henry!”

“ _Summoner._ ” Narrowing his eyes at the Storyteller, Scratch took aim. He pulled his arm back and threw his pitchfork right through the Storyteller’s chest.

The Storyteller dropped to his feet. “Linda.”

After Linda stowed Boris behind the Storyteller’s chair, she stepped forward to pull the pitchfork out of his chest. Starting from Linda’s halo, there was a flash of white and the Storyteller was whole again. In the aftermath, Linda was pointing the pitchfork toward Scratch and scowling. “Do you remember what you used to tell me when you came home from work? You drew an angel for me, but you couldn’t stop thinking about me all day. If there was a devil, maybe he would murder animators who worked too long.”

“Shut up, cloud-dweller.” Scratch stared at the pitchfork. After a moment, he looked at the Storyteller’s chest then down at his hands. On his face was a big frown and in his eyes were tears.

“Uncle Henry?” Joey tapped Henry’s elbow.

“I’m sorry you had to see that.” Flinching, Henry covered his head. “Don’t come out!” As Henry kept shouting at himself, Joey bit his lip, but after a moment, Henry stopped. Looking at the Storyteller, he said, “I’m sorry I hurt you, old friend. I’m still fighting Scratch. You might have to lock me and that other demon up before we can do any more harm.”

Running to the edge of the screen, Linda called, “Just lock him in here. He has to have a chance to hear about our grandson.”

The Storyteller collected Henry. As he guided him toward Linda, he said, “Remember who you are, old friend. You’re the artist who design Scratch and delighted tens of thousands of American children. Out there in the real world, there are still people who love you. Why, your grandson decided to follow in your footsteps!”

Linda opened the white outline of a door, and by the time the Storyteller tossed Henry through, Henry was growling and scratching at everything he passed. When Linda closed the door, Henry banged on it. “Let me out! There’s another demon in _my_ territory, and I’m going to kill it!”

Joey leaned toward the display. “Is there nothing more we can do to help him?”

“I don’t know of anything else. If we can help him, we’d have to find some new book or trick. Same with the Henry out there.” The Storyteller leaned against the edge of the display, from which were still coming rattlings, growls, and hissed messages from Scratch. “I don’t know how much help this will be with the problems in the real world, but if you want to stick around, there’s something I want to investigate.”

Any hint Joey could get was better than nothing. “Sure. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Just something to clarify. You and Henry mentioned a _Bendy_ during the test. Is it that same _Bendy_ that Henry complained popped into his head back when you showed me the list of complaints he made before he came to get checked for curses? He’s a cartoon demon, isn’t he?”

Joey swallowed. “That’s the one. Was it a mistake to think that drawing him was something for Henry to focus on when we wanted to strengthen his soul?”

“No.” The Storyteller’s smile lasted only a second before a particularly violent thud knocked him off-balance. He pounded the door back. “Listen up, Scratch! You can’t attack any of us, but if you’ll take us to see that other demon you’re complaining about, we’ll let you out of there.”

“You had better get him out of my territory.”

As the Storyteller let Scratch out of the closet, Linda wrapped her arms around Luke and lead him off-screen. Scratch and the Storyteller followed, and several minutes later, the latter group was back, leading a lanky, stumbling demon by the hand. “Is this Bendy?” the Storyteller asked.

“Yes.”

When the Storyteller released Bendy’s hand, Bendy stood motionless except for the ink dripping from his deformed body. Scratch pushed Bendy to the floor, where Bendy lay like a rag doll. “Hold on.” The Storyteller put a hand in front of Scratch. “We can set up another world in the Ink Machine to send it to if you want, but this isn’t another demon invading your territory. If anything, it’s an over-sized demon-shaped golem, the manifestation of your grandson’s magic that was conjured up the other day. Don’t you want to help us keep an eye on your grandson? He is having a lot of trouble controlling his magic.”

Joey tapped the display. “Is this thing still linked to Henry’s magic?”

“Yes, but it’s a passive monitoring at the moment. We won’t be able to affect his magic from in here. Given this whole hybrid thing, I don’t want to try to use it to do anything but monitor his magic until we know more about what will hurt him, what he wants done with his magic, and how he’s taking to knowing he’s part demon.”

“I’ll talk to him.” Joey released some tension through a chuckle. “Who knows? Maybe during this ordeal, we’ll find a way to help Uncle Henry too.”

  
  


When Henry stumbled into work, he was late, still wearing the clothes from the day before, and had his briefcase clutched tightly in his hand, but Joey greeted him with a smile and a wave. “Go clock in. I’ve got a surprise for you.”

Minutes later, Joey was leading Henry onto the elevator. He lead Henry past the Ink Machine and his office and opened a door on the left-hand side of the hall. Inside was enough room for a desk and a chair. “It’s temporary, until we can find you a bigger office, but if you want it, it’s yours. If your magic acts up and causes an accident, at least there would be less witnesses to tell PADI.”

With the chair against the wall, Henry supposed he could fit at the desk, but he’d be cramped. Regardless, he set his briefcase on the desk. “Thanks. I’ll go get my projects. Since we’re not introducing Bendy to the world yet, do you want me to focus on the backgrounds for _Alice Angel in Wonderland?_ ”

Joey hit Henry’s arm with a smile on his face. “Absolutely. While you’re doing that, I’ve got to prepare for a meeting with the department heads and let them know about the new direction.” Joey’s lips twitched down. “I don’t think we’ll be able to release that movie for a while.”

Although Henry smiled, he felt a little tense. He didn’t want to lie to Joey, but how would he be able to help Joey with that movie without breaking the deal he made with his father to restore Joey’s humanity? “Well, we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do. In the meantime, I don’t think PADI would be so upset if you glorifed angel magic rather than warn people against demon magic.”

“I don’t know what to believe about angels and demons anymore. You’ll be careful, won’t you?”

Squeezing Joey’s shoulder, Henry said, “You’ve got this. I fully believe in your abilities to find the right path forward.” As soon as Henry spoke, he felt a little queasy. He walked off to prevent Joey from seeing that anything was wrong – if asked, he wouldn’t be able to explain what his father was up to without completely breaking his end of the bargain, so what was the use in giving Joey something to ask about? Was even giving Joey some generic encouragement a large enough violation of the deal to make him ill when Joey was complaining about dammed progress on a goal he had that would get in Caesar’s way?

Henry retrieved his work items from his old desk, and when he came to his new office several minutes later, the hall was empty. He closed his office door behind him. For a few minutes, he sat there breathing deeply until the nausea had passed. On opening his briefcase, he smiled at Bendy. “Hey, buddy. You won’t believe what just happened.”

Henry talked to Bendy as he worked on the gigantic flowers for Alice’s Wonderland episode. When he got to the parts about working with Joey on what should have been Bendy’s premiere movie, he sketched Bendy some blocks to stack, some stuffed animals to cuddle, and a toy horse to rock on. He yawned. Rubbing his eyes, he said, “To be honest, I wish I could help Joey with that movie, but I’d rather have Joey around without worrying about what that creep that calls himself my father is going to do to him. I’m going to have to find a loophole.”

Bendy’s smile twitched. _Ya might have ta find a way ta_ _talk to another grown-up about this._ _I can listen ta ya and understand what you’re worried about, but I’m too young ta help ya find loopholes._ _Maybe ya shouldn’t even tell me what you’re doing about stuff._ Instantly, Bendy’s pie-cut eyes switched out for wingding spirals. His hands flew to his mouth.

Henry swore under his breath. “Maybe I should have phrased that deal better. Bendy, I release you from having to understand what I’m worried about. Will you _try_ to understand my concerns about your safety instead?”

Bendy nodded and held out a hand, which Henry touched. His eyes back to normal, Bendy sat on his rocking horse and grinned.

Momentarily, Henry felt sick. The feeling passed, so he brushed it.

Henry knew Bendy was a little kid, but there was an aching in his chest at having modified their bargain with him. Under the desk, he made a fist, and his claws scraped against his palm. “I told my dad that I needed you to talk to about things I couldn’t tell Joey. Do you think that’s why you came to life in the first place?”

Bendy bit his gloves. Around him were floating the words _chatter, chatter._

“I know you’re alive, but if you are a golem, what if you need to keep serving your original purpose to survive? Do you still want me to stop bouncing ideas of what I’m going to do about my worries off you?”

Bendy hesitated.

What was wrong with him? Henry gave his best encouraging smile. “Buddy?”

_What if I’m not a good confidante?_

“I can’t think of a better confidante!” Henry squiggled a line on Bendy’s page and thickened it out. A blindfold. “Here. Let’s play a game. Tie this around your eyes.”

Blinking, Bendy picked the blindfold up. “Okay?”

When Bendy had the blindfold around his eyes, Henry sketched a simple corridor with a few corners, and at its end, a plate of cookies. “I’m going to give you a treat, but you have to trust me. Walk straight ahead until I tell you to stop.”

Over the next few minutes, Henry guided Bendy through the maze with only a few near-hits against the walls. At the end of the maze, Henry said, “Okay. You can take off your blindfold.”

Bendy dropped the blindfold, and it fell to the blank paper at his feet. _Cookies!_ He stuffed one into his mouth.

Pointing at the corridor, Henry said, “Being a good confidante is a little like me guiding you through that maze. I don’t have to know much about what’s going on, but as long as I’m far enough from the problem to see things clearly, that’s enough.”

Although Bendy had the last of his cookies halfway to his mouth already, he lowered the cookie. _Is that all there is to it?_ He chucked the cookie at the edge of the page, and it flew off. _Ya shouldn’t trust me!_

“Why not?”

_Because your-_ Bendy’s text box disappeared.  As he balled his fists, he took a breath.  _Because I’m a demon!_

What? Henry rose from his seat. It smashed against the wall, leaving a hole in the sheet rock and the chair’s wood on the floor in pieces. “I’m a demon too. Can you not trust me?”

Bendy ran off and hid  somewhere behind the word  _Secret_ .

H enry slammed his hands down on the desk hard enough to split it in pieces. “ Knock it off already! Don’t you understand that this might be a matter of life and death for you?  If my magic brought you to life  _on accident_ , then  how do we know what it is that’s keeping you alive?”  He kept shouting, but Bendy didn’t come out.

G reat. Henry hadn’t wanted to see how Joey reacted to Bendy just yet, but this was an emergency.  To get to the conference room, he just had to go down the hall, right? He stormed out.

J oey was setting papers around the conference room’s table when he got there.

“Joey!”

When Joey looked up, his  jaw dropped . “Henry! Are you aware of which form you’re in right now?”

Without looking at himself, Henry muttered, “Human form.” He didn’t check if it worked, but the nausea came, and the hand that came to cover his mouth was flesh-colored, and the nails that landed against his cheek w ere just that: nails, not claws.

“Did something happen?”

F or a moment, Henry couldn’t answer. He leaned against the table, still covering his mouth.

Joey rubbed a circle on his back.  “ Don’t count  changing your form back to human as a violation of our no-magic deal, Xnmr.”

H enry’s nausea passed. Straightening up, he took a breath of stale conference room air. “ Look, there are things going on that I don’t know how to talk to you about, and I need  _someone_ to confide in. A golem, maybe.”

“You had me thinking there was an accident for a moment there. I’m really glad that wasn’t the case.”

“Joey, there-”

Joey was busy poking his head into the hall. Reaching back, he grabbed Henry’s elbow. “ Sammy’s on his way. This golem idea of yours, we’ll have to talk about it at the apartment.”

H enry stumbled into the hall, where a red-faced Sammy Lawrence was  whipping sheet music through the air. “ Joey Drew, why did I just see words write themselves over the top of my score in front of my eyes?  _Is that all there is to it? You shouldn’t trust me. Because your- Because I’m a demon!_ What sort of lyrics are these supposed to be?”

“Joey,” Henry whispered, “It looks like there was an accident after all.”

“Go. I’ll take care of this.”

I f it hadn’t been for Sammy’s presence, Henry would have told Joey all about Bendy then and there.  He needed the help with him.  But because Sammy was there, Henry hurried off to make sure Bendy was alright.  After glancing around, Henry opened his office door and whispered to the wall and the furniture to fix itself.  That cost him his breakfast out in the hallway,  but he’d have to wait to be sure Bendy was still alive before he got Wally to clean up after him.

In his office, Henry took his seat.  Was it his lack of sleep, or was defying his deal with Joey making him so tired?

“Bendy?” he called, but Bendy didn’t come out. He had to call Bendy out into the open using his true name, but there Bendy was, head drooping, hands wiping tears from his face, and as alive as he ever was. Did calling Bendy count as magic? Henry’s stomach was upset again, and he was more tired than before. He laid his head on his desk, even as he said, “You’re scaring me.”

  
  


“Who cares if you’re summoning demons or not as long as you let us work?” Sammy slammed his sheet music onto the conference table. “How do you expect me to record music for the episodes if you’re writing magical messages across my hard work? Don’t try telling me it was Henry again.”

Joey glanced at the sheet music. Was the accident that bad?

_Is that all there is to it? You shouldn’t trust me. Because your- Because I’m a demon!_

There was a sting in Joey’s heart.  Was that how Henry felt? Joey guessed the sentiment came from whatever it was Henry didn’t think he could talk to him about.  He straightened Sammy’s sheet music. “Did you show this to anyone else?”

“Why bother? You’re the only one who can reverse the magic. Fix it.”

J oey muttered a spell and the writing removed itself. “ Wait here for the meeting, and not a word about this.”

As he wheeled for the door, Sammy called after him, “Where are you going?”

“There was an incident in the animation department that Henry wanted to talk to me about. Maybe there’s writing over their hard work too, do you think? I’ve got to straighten it out. Shouldn’t take five minutes.”

Before Joey saw the yellow chunks of eggs puddled in the hall, he smelled them. There was no way to avoid them and get to Henry’s office, so, crinkling his nose, he wheeled through carefully enough that at least he wouldn’t splash himself with Henry’s sick.  When he opened the door, he found Henry asleep on his desk,  and his eyes caught on a poster for  _Bendy and the Alchemist’s Secret_ . Poor guy must have been heart-broken to not get to introduce a demon as good as himself.

But on the page, Bendy was shouting at something off-screen. _Don’t make yourself sick over me! If ya have to use me as a confidante, go ahead._ Bendy pressed himself to the page’s edge. After his eyes met Joey’s, he dove into a pile of toys that started quivering.

That thing filling Joey’s chest, that was rage. So Henry went ahead and made himself a golem to help him in Joey’s place, did he?  Why would he do so trivial of magic in his studio? He’d trusted him!

Didn’t Henry trust him too?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Questions:
> 
> Have these three all failed each other in their time of need? What would Joey think of Bendy himself?
> 
> Next time:
> 
> The first interactions between Bendy and Joey with his human mind.


End file.
